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SC extends interim protection from arrest to Teesta Setalvad until further orders
Issuing a formal notice in the matter to the Gujarat government, a bench, headed by justice BR Gavai, directed for a continuation of Setalvad’s interim bail that she got from the specially constituted three-judge bench on late Saturday evening
The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the interim protection from arrest granted to Mumbai-based human rights activist Teesta Atul Setalvad “until further orders” in connection with the charges of falsifying evidence in the 2002 Gujarat riots case, people familiar with the matter said.
The court has further fixed the matter for July 19 for a detailed hearing.
Issuing a formal notice in the matter to the Gujarat government, a bench, headed by justice BR Gavai, directed for a continuation of Setalvad’s interim bail that she got from the specially constituted three-judge bench on late Saturday evening.
The three-judge Supreme Court bench had on Saturday put a stay on Gujarat high court’s order referring to the ‘immediate surrender’ of Setalvad.
“Issue notice, returnable on July 19. All documents that are to be filed by both sides shall be filed on or before July 15 after serving on each other. The interim order will continue until further orders,” the bench, which also included justices AS Bopanna and Dipankar Datta, recorded in its order on Wednesday.
During the brief hearing, the bench observed that it would like the two sides to finish their arguments in the case on July 19. “The date is fixed with the consent of both sides so that we start and finish it on the same day. We are also cognisant of the fact that this special bench is making three other benches rise,” said justice Gavai. The three judges on this special bench are otherwise members of three different benches in the top court.
Also Read: Who is Teesta Setalvad and what is the case against her?
At the outset of the proceedings, additional solicitor general SV Raju, representing the Gujarat government, had submitted that the state required some more time for proper translation of relevant documents in the case. To this, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Setalvad, said that the Court may set down a date for a detailed hearing.
After the bench assigned the next date and extended Setalvad’s relief “until further orders,” ASG Raju contended that the tendency in such cases is to have the relief extended indefinitely. While Sibal retorted that it was the state government which had asked for more time for the translation of documents, the bench told Raju: “We also have the authority to curb that tendency...we want to start and end the matter on the same day.”
Following a day of dramatic events that involved three benches of constitutional courts, the Supreme Court on Saturday evening had protected Setalvad from arrest for a week, observing “heavens won’t fall” if she remains out on interim bail in connection with the criminal charges of forgery, falsifying evidence and conspiracy against her.
Setalvad got the reprieve from the specially constituted three-judge bench, which was set up after the two judges on the previous bench had a difference of opinion. At 11am on Saturday, the Gujarat high court dismissed Setalvad’s regular bail plea and further rejected her plea for an interim bail for 30 days to enable her to approach the Supreme Court.
The high court order compelled Setalvad to approach the top court, which allowed her an urgent hearing on a court holiday within hours.
The two-judge bench sat at 6.40pm on Saturday but failed to agree on granting her protection. Thus, the matter was referred to a larger bench of three judges, which sat at 9.15pm and accorded Setalvad interim relief for seven days after a 40-minute hearing.
Setalvad along with co-accused former IPS officer RB Sreekumar were arrested on June 25 last year for allegedly fabricating evidence, committing forgery and hatching a criminal conspiracy to frame Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others in the 2002 communal riots cases in Gujarat.
Their arrest by the Gujarat police had come merely a day after the Supreme Court’s judgment that reproached Setalvad and some others for their intention to “keep the pot boiling” for an obvious ulterior design and added that “all those involved in such abuse of process, need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with the law.”
However, on September 2, another bench of the Supreme Court granted her interim bail as her regular bail plea was pending before the Gujarat high court. The September order underlined certain circumstances in her favour – the fact that she is a woman and had been in custody for over two months since her arrest.
The Gujarat high court rejected Setalvad’s regular bail plea on Saturday morning, asking her to surrender immediately. In its order, the high court had noted that she used victims of riots and witnesses as a ladder for her own benefits and that made active efforts to unsettle the democratically elected government by tarnishing the reputation of then chief minister Modi and the government machinery. It added that grating her bail would “deepen and widen the communal polarisation.”
While rejecting the state government’s arguments against granting interim bail to Setalvad, the three-judge bench noted that the September 2 order of the Supreme Court gave her protection from arrest after taking into the special provision favouring women.
“A person has been on bail since September 2022 under the orders of this Court...10 months have passed. What urgency was that the person should not be given even seven days to challenge the order of denial of bail? Will the skies fall if interim protection was granted? What was the alarming urgency for the high court to pass such an order?” the three-judge bench said on Saturday, staying the Gujarat high court order for a week.
