JOIN USThe Supreme Court on Thursday granted protection till Friday to social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband, facing arrest in connection with embezzlement of funds in the construction of a museum for Gulbarg Society victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Soon after the Gujarat High Court rejected their anticipatory bail plea, Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand approached the SC saying that it was a case of "political vendetta" by the perpetrators of the riots.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the matter relating to imminent arrest of the couple before a bench presided over by Chief Justice H L Dattu. He sought an urgent hearing, saying that this was an “extraordinary situation” with the police at their doorstep, hell bent to arrest them.
The apex court restrained police from arresting Setalvad and posted the matter to Friday.
The HC rejected the plea of Setalvad and others, saying that they were not cooperating in the probe and they cannot be armoured with full fledged anticipatory bail.
Setalvad, her husband and two others were booked by the Crime Branch of Gujarat Police on charges of cheating, breach of trust and under the IT Act, in relation to the construction of “Museum of Resistance” in Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad, which was hit by communal riots in 2002.