Hours after Gujarat High Court dismissed activist Teesta Setalvad’s bail plea in the case of fabricating evidence to implicate innocent people in the 2002 post-Godhra riots, the Supreme Court on Saturday granted her interim protection and stayed the HC order for a week.
A SC bench comprising of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra had earlier held an urgent hearing of plea by Setalvad challenging the orders of the Gujarat High Court and decided that the matter will be placed before a higher bench for further consideration. “We request the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to constitute a larger bench for the case,” the apex court said.
During the proceedings, the SC said “a breathing time should have been given in the case.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Gujarat Government, argued that “delaying the case would not erase the crime” committed. He further said that he had thoroughly examined the accused’s record, which spanned across many cases.
Mehta referred to a 127-page order and quoted a part of the judgment that mentioned Teesta’s alleged involvement in a conspiracy. He questioned whether someone with such involvement should be granted relief, asserted significance on upholding the rule of law and respecting the court’s authority.
Urgent hearing at 9:15 pm
A few hours after the hearing, a three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Gawai and comprising of Justice AS Bopana and Justice Dipankar Datta held another urgent hearing of Setalvad’s plea late at night.
The apex court granted the activist interim protection and stayed Gujarat High Court order that had asked her to immediately surrender for one week. “We are not going into the merits of the matter. We are only considering the part of the order that requires immediate surrender,” the SC said in its latest order.
Senior Advocate CU Singh read the SC order granting interim bail to Setalvad in 2022 and informed the bench of the conditions imposed by the trial court. “The chargesheet has been filed, and 10 months have passed since the interim bail was granted, with no violation of any condition.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged the Court to “treat Setalvad like any ordinary person.”
The SC asked, “What were the alarming circumstances that the HC didn’t grant 7 days?” Mehta replied, “It’s not a question of one individual. She is misusing every forum. She is an ordinary criminal, despite thinking otherwise.” Mehta said, “The SIT selected and functioned under your Lordships found that Teesta Setalvad tutored witnesses. The entire nation and state were maligned. It’s not a question of an individual.”
Justice Gavai responded, stating, “We are sorry to say that the single judge was totally wrong in not granting interim protection even for one week. When this Court has granted interim bail, extending it by a week would have been ideal.”
Mehta responded, stating, “Kindly see what kind of litigant she is. This isn’t an ordinary case. She takes every institution for a joyride.”
“Somebody who writes to international organizations in Geneva, maligning the country.”
Gujarat High Court Judgement
In the morning, Gujarat High Court rejected Setalvad’s plea and directed her to surrender immediately. The court observed that she had made attempts to unsettle a democratically elected government, sully the image of the then chief minister and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi and tried to send him to jail.
The court of Justice Nirzar Desai had directed Setalvad, who is currently out on interim bail, to surrender immediately and rejected her lawyer’s request to give her 30 days to surrender.
In June last year, Setalvad, former Gujarat Director General of Police R B Sreekumar and ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, were arrested in connection with a case registered by the Ahmedabad crime branch police. The case alleged the fabrication of evidence to falsely implicate innocent individuals in the post-Godhra riots cases.
The three accused were arrested after an FIR was registered against them under Indian Penal Code sections 468 (forgery for cheating) and 194 (fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offences).
A trial court rejected Sreekumar’s plea for discharge in the case last month. Sreekumar is also out on interim bail in the case granted by Gujarat HC. Bhatt, the third accused in the case, has not applied for bail. Bhatt was already in jail for another criminal matter when he was arrested in this case.
The case against Setalvad and the two others was registered after the June 24 verdict of the apex court in the Zakia Jafri case. Dismissing the petition filed by Zakia Jafri whose husband and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was killed during the riots, the SC had observed that “it appears to us that a coalesced effort of the disgruntled officials of the State of Gujarat along with others was to create sensation by making revelations which were false to their own knowledge”.
On September 2, 2022, the Supreme Court had granted Setalvad interim bail.
The Gujarat high court judgement stated that prima facie, it appears that Setalvad used her close associates and riot victims to submit false and fabricated affidavits before the Supreme Court in a bid to allegedly to undermine the establishment and tarnish the image of the then Chief Minister (Modi).
“If today some political party allegedly gave her the task to unsettle the (then) government, tomorrow some outside force may utilise and convince a person to make efforts in a similar line causing danger to the nation or to a particular state by adopting the same modalities,” it said.
According to judgement document accessed by CNN-News18, Setalvad is “funded freely by political parties”.
Setalvad’s “efforts have been focused on influencing witnesses according to her own agenda. It should be noted that the present applicant has received unrestricted funding from a political party and has been promised additional funds if needed, which shows her influence.
Furthermore, it should be considered the present applicant has not only has close associations with political leaders but also has strong connections with individuals in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Delhi across various fields and professions, it said. Noting the seriousness of the offense and other parameters based on principles established by various judgments of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, if she is released on bail, who is accused of being involved in a larger conspiracy to unsettle the then establishment and discredit the former Chief Minister, there is a significant risk that she may tamper with the witnesses.
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