Teesta Setalvad moves Supreme Court for bail in Gujarat riots case, hearing on Aug 22

Teesta Setalvad has approached the Supreme Court against the August 3 order of the Gujarat High Court which issued notice to the Special Investigation Team seeking its response to bail applications filed by Setalvad and former Gujarat DGP RB Sreekumar and posted the hearing on September 19.

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on August 22 a plea by activist Teesta Setalvad seeking interim bail in a case in which she was arrested for allegedly fabricating documents to frame innocent people in 2002 Gujarat riots cases. A bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices JK Maheshwari and Hima Kohli posted the matter for hearing before a bench headed by Justice UU Lalit on August 22 after advocate Aparna Bhat mentioned the case for urgent listing.

"Upon being mentioned by Aparna Bhat, Advocate on Record for the petitioner seeking urgent listing of the matter, the Registry is directed to list the matter on August 22, 2022, before a Bench presided over by Justice Uday Umesh Lalit," the bench in its order stated.

Setalvad has approached the top court against the August 3 order of the Gujarat High Court which issued notice to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) seeking its response to bail applications filed by Setalvad and former Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) RB Sreekumar and posted the hearing on September 19.

Setalvad and Sreekumar had approached the High Court after their bail applications were rejected by the Ahmedabad city sessions court. On July 30, the Ahmedabad sessions court refused to grant bail to Setalvad and Sreekumar while noting that the accused appeared to have aimed to "destabilise" the Gujarat government and defame the state for their ulterior motives. They were arrested by the Ahmedabad Police Crime Branch on June 25 based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered against them under sections 468 (forgery for cheating) and 194 (fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offences) of the Indian Penal Code.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the case has alleged that Setalvad and Sreekumar were part of a larger conspiracy carried out at the behest of late Congress leader Ahmed Patel to destabilise the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Narendra Modi, who was the Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time.

Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt is also an accused in the case. The FIR against Setalvad, Sreekumar, and Bhatt was registered after the Supreme Court had on June 24 dismissed the plea filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the clean chit given by the SIT to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several others in 2002 Gujarat riots.

Ehsan Jafri was among 69 people killed during the violence at the Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002.

Zakia Jafri had challenged the SIT`s clean chit to 64 people including Narendra Modi who was the Gujarat Chief Minister during the riots in the State.

The SIT in the apex court had opposed the plea of Jafri saying there is a sinister plot behind the complaint to probe the "larger conspiracy" behind the 2002 Gujarat riots and the original complaint by Jafri was directed by activist Teesta Setalvad, who levelled allegations just to keep the pot boiling.