INDIA

The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Binayak Sen, a doctor who was sentenced to life for links with Maoists and disputed sedition charges against him in a case that sparked international scrutiny of the country's human rights record.

The court granted bail almost four months after a court in Chhattisgarh sentenced him to life in prison on charges of sedition and conspiracy against the state.

Sen, accused of passing messages from a Maoist prisoner he was treating in jail, denies any wrongdoing. The Supreme Court hearing only referred to his bail application and a lower court still has to rule on his appeal.

"No case of sedition is made out against the petitioner. The evidence is baseless," the court said after hearing Sen's bail application.

"The possession of Maoist literature does not amount to his involvement in Maoist activities."

Sen was not in court. He is still in jail in Chhattisgarh, and his lawyer said he was likely to be released on Saturday.

Nobel prize winners and the rights group Amnesty International had condemned his imprisonment.

Sen, a 61 year old who ran health clinics for the poor and was a vocal critic of government policies against the Maoists, was arrested in 2007 in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh.

"This judgment paves the way for release of all other social activists who are lying in jails on charges of having links with Maoists. We will take all such cases to the Supreme Court," said activist Swami Agnivesh, after Friday's ruling.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the rebels the biggest internal security threat to the country.

The Maoists regularly attack police, trains and government buildings and in 2010 staged several high-profile ambushes that killed dozens of police. Most recently, they threatened to cut off the hands of all candidates contesting local elections in Bihar, where they are also strong.

The rebels say they are fighting for the poor and landless and have backed farmers in land disputes with industry, one of the main obstacles in Asia's third-largest economy to higher growth and more rural jobs.

Condemnation of the actions of paramilitary forces and policemen by high-profile writers and activists like Booker-prize winner Arundhati Roy has prompted some to demand sedition charges be brought against them.

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