Teesta Setalvad bail plea: Supreme Court issues notice to Gujarat government; will consider interim relief on August 25

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the State of Gujarat in the bail plea filed by activist Teesta Setalvad after she was arrested for allegedly fabricating documents to frame high-ranking officials including then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Godhra Riots cases [Teesta Atul Setalvad and Another v. State of Gujarat]..A Bench led by Justices UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia will now hear the matter on Thursday, August 25, on which date it will consider the prayer by Setalvad for interim relief despite the proceedings pending before the Gujarat High Court..When the matter was taken up for hearing today, Justice Lalit informed the counsel that he had represented some of the accused in the Sohrabuddin murder matter, related to the 2002 riots. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Setalvad said that he had no objection to Justice Lalit hearing this case.Sibal argued,"But please see what is happening. The case germinated from the Supreme Court order. How can a Section 467 application lie before the High Court?"He also said that the first information report (FIR) registered against his client in Ahmedabad was a pure recitation of proceedings which happened and culminated before the apex court..After a brief discussion amongst themselves, the judges said,"We issue notice. Returnable on Thursday. Serve State of Gujarat standing counsel. Then we will consider interim relief even when matter is pending in High Court.".Setalvad moved the Supreme Court seeking bail after she was arrested earlier this year. On August 2, the Gujarat High Court had issued notice to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), asking it to respond to bail applications filed by Setalvad and former Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) RB Sreekumar. The matter is slated to be heard by the High Court on September 19..It is this long gap for the next hearing date that Setalvad took objection to, in her appeal before the top court.She submitted that as per the judgment of the Supreme Court in Satendar Kumar Antil v. CBI, bail matters must be heard expeditiously."Despite the same, the first date fixed by Hon'ble High Court in the present case is after one and a half months," her plea said.Setalvad's arrest came after a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court had made adverse remarks against her on June 24 while dismissing the plea by Zakia Jafri, wife of slain Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed during the 2002 Gujarat Riots. Zakia Jafri had challenged the Gujarat High Court’s decision of 2017 upholding the magistrate's decision to accept the closure report filed by the SIT in the case.While dismissing the plea, the top court had made observations against Setalvad and former DGP Sreekumar, terming them "disgruntled".The Court said that there was a coalesced effort by them to create a sensation by making revelations that were false to their own knowledge."At the end of the day, 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. The falsity of their claims had been fully exposed by the SIT after a thorough investigation," the judgment had said.Such officials need to be in the dock for "keeping the pot boiling" with ulterior motives, the Court had said..Subsequently, Setalvad was arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad from Mumbai and taken to Gujarat. Sreekumar was also arrested from Gujarat.On July 30, an Ahmedabad sessions court refused to grant bail to Setalvad, noting that she and other accused appeared to have aimed to “destabilise” the Gujarat government and defame the State for ulterior motives.Granting bail to the accused would encourage the wrong-doers that in spite of “making such accusations against the then chief minister and others, the court has lightly enlarged them on bail,” the order had said.Setalvad then moved the Gujarat High Court for bail. The High Court issued notice in the matter, but did not grant Setalvad any interim relief..In her appeal filed before the top court through Advocate Aparna Bhat, Setalvad contended that she has been facing a barrage of cases since she "challenged the administration at the highest level" and was the voice of many victims of the 2002 Gujarat Riots."Petitioner has been targeted for providing support to the victim of the riots. When a key witness had made allegations against the petitioner the court after an enquiry had come to the conclusion that the witness was indeed unreliable," the plea said..[Follow our coverage of today's hearing]