Dr Sen was arrested on May 14, 2007 on charges of aiding and abetting Naxal activity in Chhattisgarh under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPCA) of 2004. Dismissing the bail petition, a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhan said: "It did not agree with the grounds raised by Sen for enlarging him on bail."
Harish Dhawan, reader of economics at Delhi University and an activist, is shocked at why Dr Sen's bail plea was rejected. "The right to bail is only rejected if the state believes a person will abscond or else if because the accused may tamper with evidence. But the state is well aware that Sen was going to do no such thing especially since the chargesheet has been filed," Mr Dhawan said. Chhattisgarh PUCL president Rajendra Sail felt that if charges had to be brought against him, they should have been done so under the IPC or the Criminal Procedure Act. "Instead, he has been charged under anti-terrorist laws which we describe as black laws because it gives sweeping powers of arrest and detention to the state ," said Mr SailTop court rejects bail for PUCL activist
Civil right activists are extremely dismayed at the rejection of the bail petition of Chhattisgarh People's Union for Civil Liberties general secretary and paediatrician Binayak Sen by the Supreme Court.