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Mann
The family and supporters of Binayak Sen, convicted of sedition, can look at the figures for another man, who arguably holds the record for having been booked and arrested the highest number of times for the same offence: Punjab’s IPS officer-turned-pro-Khalistan politician Simranjit Singh Mann.
Since 1984, when he quit his job to join the movement for an independent Sikh state, Mann has been booked over 50 times under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with sedition. His lawyer, Ranjan Lakhanpal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, says he stopped counting once the figure crossed 50.
Each time, either the state has dropped the case of its own or a court has set aside the charge, which carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. Now, Mann has just one sedition case pending against him.
Lakhanpal says, “The judgment in Binayak Sen’s case is ridiculous. I am sure the High Court will undo the injustice. I have seen in many cases involving Simranjit Singh Mann, the courts deciding that the offence of sedition (did not hold). And, mind you, unlike Sen, he was accused of raising the demand for Khalistan.”
Charged with sedition 50+ times, never convicted
Since 1984, when he quit his job to join the movement for an independent Sikh state, Mann has been booked over 50 times under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with sedition. His lawyer, Ranjan Lakhanpal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, says he stopped counting once the figure crossed 50.
Each time, either the state has dropped the case of its own or a court has set aside the charge, which carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. Now, Mann has just one sedition case pending against him.
Lakhanpal says, “The judgment in Binayak Sen’s case is ridiculous. I am sure the High Court will undo the injustice. I have seen in many cases involving Simranjit Singh Mann, the courts deciding that the offence of sedition (did not hold). And, mind you, unlike Sen, he was accused of raising the demand for Khalistan.”
Charged with sedition 50+ times, never convicted