On Saturday, July 1, the Gujarat High Court rejected the regular bail application of ‘activist’ Teesta Setalvad and ordered her to “surrender immediately.” The Gujarat High Court ruling came with regard to the alleged fabrication of evidence and tutoring of witnesses in cases concerning the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Breaking: Gujarat High Court rejects the regular bail application of Teesta Setalvad and ordered her to surrender immediately in connection with the alleged fabrication of evidence and tutoring of witnesses in cases related to the 2002 post-Godhra riots. pic.twitter.com/bXdIaFQkFW
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) July 1, 2023
Setalvad has been shielded from arrest thus far by interim bail granted by the Supreme Court in September last year, after which she was released from judicial custody. Following this, she applied for regular bail at the Gujarat High Court, but the court denied the same.
Senior Advocate Mihir Thakore appeared for Setalvad and requested the single bench of Justice Nirzar Desai to stay the verdict for 30 days. However, the court denied the request and ordered Setalvad to surrender before the police immediately.
On June 21, Justice Desai concluded the hearing on her regular bail and reserved the order. During the hearing, the state government argued that Setalvad was a “tool of a politician” tasked with defaming and destabilising the then-state government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The State’s prosecution, represented by Public Prosecutor Mitesh Amin, highlighted her potential to tamper with evidence in the case related to the 2002 riots, as he strongly opposed her bail plea
Referring to the deceased Congress leader Ahmed Patel, Mitesh Amin, also submitted before the court of Justice Nirzar Desai that Teesta Setalvad was a “tool in the hands of certain politicians of certain political party.”
Mitesh Amin has also asserted that Setalvad had used two police officers, namely retired DGP RB Sreekumar and her co-accused former IPS Sanjiv Bhatt, as “tools” in order to “see (to it) that the existing establishment (in 2002, when Gujarat CM was Narendra Modi) is unseated, faces problems, and their image in the society is tarnished.”
The arrest of Teesta Setalvad in fabricated evidence case linked to Gujarat Riots 2002
Teesta Setalvad, the self-proclaimed ‘activist’ was arrested by the Gujarat ATS in June 2022 in a case of forgery, influencing witnesses, and the investigation of the Gujarat riots in 2002 that occurred in the aftermath of the Godhra Train burning incident, when 59 Hindus were burned to death after a Muslim mob set ablaze a Sabarmati Express bogey carrying passengers from Ayodhya. Teesta Setalvad is accused of coaching witnesses and making ridiculous accusations in several cases related to the Gujarat riots in 2002.
The case against Setalvad was filed after the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Modi in the 2002 Gujarat Riots case. Teesta was granted bail on September 2 by the Supreme Court.
