New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday referred to a three-judge bench activist Teesta Setalvad's application seeking the release of her passport that was deposited in court as a bail condition in a matter of alleged fabrication of documents to frame innocent people in post-Godhra riot cases of 2002.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma directed the registry to place the matter before Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, saying the bail was granted by a three-judge bench.
Appearing in the court for Setalvad, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said one of the conditions imposed for bail was that the activist's passport would continue to be in the sessions court's custody.
On July 19, 2023, in a relief to Setalvad, the top court granted her regular bail in the case involving alleged fabrication of documents to frame innocent people in the post-Godhra riot cases, while terming the Gujarat High Court order denying her the relief "perverse" and "contradictory".
Also read | Transgender law must retain self-identification, says trans activist
Quashing the July 1, 2023, order of the high court, the three-judge bench held that Setalvad's custodial interrogation was not necessary since the chargesheet in the matter was filed and most of the evidence was documentary in nature.
It had directed that Setalvad's passport, which she had already surrendered, would be in the custody of the sessions court and that she shall not make any attempt to influence the witnesses and stay away from them.
It had also granted the Gujarat Police the liberty to directly move the apex court if an attempt was made to influence the witnesses in the case.
The bench had noted that the FIR against Setalvad was lodged following a top court verdict of June 24, 2022, in the case of Zakia Jafri, who had alleged a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat and challenged the high court's October 5, 2017, order rejecting her petition against the findings of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Zakia Jafri is the widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was among those killed in the Gulberg housing society during the communal riots.
Setalvad, through her counsel, had contended that in the Zakia Jafri judgment, the top court had made certain observations while dismissing her plea without hearing her and there was no mention of her name.
Setalvad was arrested a day after the Supreme Court judgment in the Zakia Jafri case upheld the clean chit given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Gujarat riots that had taken place when he was the chief minister of the state.
The FIR against Setalvad and two others -- former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and former Gujarat DGP R B Sreekumar -- followed the apex court's observation that some people kept "the pot boiling" in the case "for ulterior designs" and "all those involved in such abuse of process need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with the law".
Also read | ED raids in money laundering case against self-styled godman Ashok Kharat
The bench said observations were made in the 2022 verdict without hearing Setalvad as the Gujarat government had opposed her intervention in the matter.
On July 5, 2023, the top court had extended Setalvad's interim protection from arrest in the case till July 19, 2023, while issuing a notice to the state on her appeal against the July 1, 2023, order of the high court.
The apex court had, in a late-night hearing on July 1, 2023, protected Setalvad from arrest and stayed for a week the high court's order rejecting her plea for regular bail and asking her to surrender immediately.
During the hearing, the three-judge bench of the apex court had questioned the denial of time to Setalvad to appeal against the high court's order, saying even an ordinary criminal is entitled to some form of interim relief.
She was taken into custody on June 25, 2022, along with Sreekumar and Bhatt, in a case registered by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch police for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in the post-Godhra riots cases.
A sessions court in Ahmedabad had, on July 30, 2022, rejected the bail applications of Setalvad and Sreekumar, saying their release will send a message to wrongdoers that a person can level allegations with impunity and get away with it.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma directed the registry to place the matter before Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, saying the bail was granted by a three-judge bench.
Appearing in the court for Setalvad, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said one of the conditions imposed for bail was that the activist's passport would continue to be in the sessions court's custody.
On July 19, 2023, in a relief to Setalvad, the top court granted her regular bail in the case involving alleged fabrication of documents to frame innocent people in the post-Godhra riot cases, while terming the Gujarat High Court order denying her the relief "perverse" and "contradictory".
Also read | Transgender law must retain self-identification, says trans activist
Quashing the July 1, 2023, order of the high court, the three-judge bench held that Setalvad's custodial interrogation was not necessary since the chargesheet in the matter was filed and most of the evidence was documentary in nature.
It had directed that Setalvad's passport, which she had already surrendered, would be in the custody of the sessions court and that she shall not make any attempt to influence the witnesses and stay away from them.
It had also granted the Gujarat Police the liberty to directly move the apex court if an attempt was made to influence the witnesses in the case.
The bench had noted that the FIR against Setalvad was lodged following a top court verdict of June 24, 2022, in the case of Zakia Jafri, who had alleged a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat and challenged the high court's October 5, 2017, order rejecting her petition against the findings of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Zakia Jafri is the widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was among those killed in the Gulberg housing society during the communal riots.
Setalvad, through her counsel, had contended that in the Zakia Jafri judgment, the top court had made certain observations while dismissing her plea without hearing her and there was no mention of her name.
Setalvad was arrested a day after the Supreme Court judgment in the Zakia Jafri case upheld the clean chit given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Gujarat riots that had taken place when he was the chief minister of the state.
The FIR against Setalvad and two others -- former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and former Gujarat DGP R B Sreekumar -- followed the apex court's observation that some people kept "the pot boiling" in the case "for ulterior designs" and "all those involved in such abuse of process need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with the law".
Also read | ED raids in money laundering case against self-styled godman Ashok Kharat
The bench said observations were made in the 2022 verdict without hearing Setalvad as the Gujarat government had opposed her intervention in the matter.
On July 5, 2023, the top court had extended Setalvad's interim protection from arrest in the case till July 19, 2023, while issuing a notice to the state on her appeal against the July 1, 2023, order of the high court.
The apex court had, in a late-night hearing on July 1, 2023, protected Setalvad from arrest and stayed for a week the high court's order rejecting her plea for regular bail and asking her to surrender immediately.
During the hearing, the three-judge bench of the apex court had questioned the denial of time to Setalvad to appeal against the high court's order, saying even an ordinary criminal is entitled to some form of interim relief.
She was taken into custody on June 25, 2022, along with Sreekumar and Bhatt, in a case registered by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch police for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in the post-Godhra riots cases.
A sessions court in Ahmedabad had, on July 30, 2022, rejected the bail applications of Setalvad and Sreekumar, saying their release will send a message to wrongdoers that a person can level allegations with impunity and get away with it.
