The Union home ministry has sought a report from the Maharashtra government on the case registered against Ilina Sen, professor and wife of human rights activist Binayak Sen, by the Nagpur Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
Government sources revealed that home minister P. Chidambaram has asked the state home secretary to give a report entailing details of how a case was made out against her.
Ilina was booked for allegedly not informing police about foreign delegates’ participation at a conference organised by the Indian Association for Women’s Studies (IAWS) and the Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Vishwavidyalaya (MGAV) at Wardha in January. This is despite the home ministry giving its clearance to the conference, the sources said. Meanwhile, the home ministry has advised the Maharashtra government to “drop” its case against Ilina.
The ATS Nagpur unit had noted in an FIR that Form C, as prescribed under the Foreigners Act, had not been submitted. However, home ministry sources said that it is the prerogative of the hotelkeepers and other persons who own, occupy or control premises where foreigners are accommodated, to submit the form entailing their details, and Ilina had been wrongly booked for the offence. “The state government has been asked to submit the report in five days,” an official said. The move comes after the home minister took serious note of the letter written by the Indian Association for Women’s Studies accusing the Nagpur ATS of a “witchhunt” against Ms Sen. The IAWS quoted Mr Chidambaram’s statement in the media saying that Ms Sen had no reason to have fears regarding her security following the life sentence imposed on her husband.
“We demand the immediate withdrawal of the FIR that has been issued,” the IAWS wrote.