The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted regular bail to social activist Teesta Setalvad in alleged fabrication of evidence in 2002 Gujarat riot cases and ordered that she will continue to be on bail granted to her by the top court on September 2, 2022.
Granting regular bail to Teesta Setalvad, a special three-judge bench comprising Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice Dipankar Datta made scathing observations against Gujarat High Court judgment for dwelling into the details of the case while rejecting her bail plea.
The court quashed and set aside the Gujarat High Court’s order that had rejected regular bail to Teesta.
Taking a dim view of the High Court order running into over hundred pages, the top court said that the High Court had “interestingly” observed that since she had not challenged the FIR and chargesheet under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) or Articles 226 or 32 of the constitution, she could not claim that a prima facie case was not made out.
The top court said that if the observation of the High Court was accepted, then no bail plea can be decided at pre-trial stage without challenging the chargesheet under articles 226 or 32 of the constitution or Section 482 of Code of Cr98iminal Procedure.
Under Article 226 an aggrieved person can approach a High Court and under Article 32 a person can move the Supreme Court for the protection of fundamental rights. Section 482 of the CrPC provides for inherent powers of the High Court by which High Court can pass any order to give effect to any order under CrPC, or to prevent abuse of the process of any Court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice.
Ordering Teesta Setalvad not make any attempt to influence witnesses in the case and keep away from them, the top court in its order said, “If she influences (witnesses), prosecution can move the Supreme Court directly for cancellation of bail.” SC said.
Granting bail to Teesta Setalvad, the court also noted that the chargesheet in the case has been filed, she has been put to custodial interrogation and most of the evidence is documentary and in the custody of the prosecution.
“Since most of the evidence is documentary and since chargesheet is filed we do not find that her custodial interrogation is needed,” the top court said in its order.
Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for the Gujarat government, vehemently opposed Setalvad’s plea. Raju told the court that fabricated documents were sought to be used to implicate innocent senior ranking officers of Gujarat government.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and Chander Uday Singh appeared for Setalvad. Sibal took the bench through the chronology of the case and said that what was being projected as fabricated evidence was in fact the complaints of the aggrieved riot affected people and it was on these complaints, the National Human Rights Commission had approached the top court for an investigation of riot cases by Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Setalvad had knocked the doors of the Supreme Court on July 1 itself – the day Gujarat High Court rejected her plea for basil. Protecting Setalvad from any arrest, the top court on July 1 had observed that the single judge of the High Court “was totally wrong in not granting interim protection even for one week” to Setalvad.
“Was single judge justified in not granting time to Teesta to appeal against the rejection of regular bail”, and “In our opinion the single judge was totally wrong in not giving (her) interim protection,” the bench had observed in the course of the special hearing by a three-judge bench that was held at 9.15 PM on July 1.
Setalvad was arrested by the Gujarat Police on June 25, 2022, on an FIR by the Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) on alleged charges of conspiring to falsely implicate innocent people in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots. She was arrested just a day after a top court judgment in which adverse observations were made against Teesta and others.
While praising the SIT for the “indefatigable work done” by it, the top court by its June 24, 2022, judgment had stated that the attempt by Teesta and others was to “to keep the pot boiling, obviously, for ulterior design”, the top court had said, “As a matter of fact, all those involved in such abuse of process, need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law.”
Besides Setalvad, others alleged to be part of the conspiracy included former DGP R.B. Sreekumar, x-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhat and former State Home Minister late Haren Pandeya.
After her arrest on June 25, charges were framed against her under sections 468 (forgery for cheating) and 194 (fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offenses) of the Indian Penal Code.
The June 24, 2022, top court judgment had come on a petition by Zakia Jafri who had questioned the SIT report giving clean chit to Modi and had refuted the allegation of inaction by the State administration and the police during the riots.
Zakia Jafri is the widow of former Congress member of parliament Ehsan Jafri who along with others was killed by the violent mob at Gulberg Society on February 28, 2002, during Gujarat riots. Teesta had joined Zakia Jafri in the case in the Supreme Court.