Karnavati, Gujarat. In a massive setback for Teesta Setalvad, the Gujarat High Court has dismissed her application for regular bail in a case registered for allegedly fabricating documents to implicate higher functionaries of the then Gujarat government in the 2002 Godhra riots case.
Single-judge, Justice Nirzar Desai pronounced the order in open court.
“The application for regular bail stands rejected. Since she is on an interim bail, as granted by the Supreme Court, for the last one year, she is ordered to surrender immediately before the investigating agency,” he said.
A request was made by Senior Advocate Mihir Thakore to stay the order for at least 30 days. However, the Court rejected the said request.
Setalvad was arrested a day after a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court made adverse remarks against her on June 24, 2022 while dismissing the plea by Zakia Jafri, wife of slain Congress Member of Parliament (MP), Ehsan Jafri who was killed during the 2002 Gujarat Riots.
Zakia Jafri had challenged the Gujarat High Court’s 2017 order upholding a magistrate’s decision to accept a closure report filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the case.
While dismissing the plea, the top court had made certain observations against Setalvad and former Director General of Police, Sreekumar, terming them “disgruntled”.
The Supreme Court said that there was a coalesced effort by the two to create a sensation by making revelations that were false to their own knowledge.
Subsequently, Setalvad was arrested by the Gujarat ATS from Mumbai and taken to Gujarat. Sreekumar was also arrested in Gujarat.
In July, 2022, an Ahmedabad sessions court refused to grant bail to Setalvad, noting that she and the other accused appeared to have aimed to “destabilise” the Gujarat government and defame the State for ulterior motives.
Teesta had then petitioned the Gujarat High Court, which issued notice to the SIT to respond to her plea on August 2, before adjourning the hearing till September 19, 2022.
Aggrieved with this time gap, she then moved the Supreme Court, which granted her interim bail on September 2, last year.
Inputs – Bar&Bench