Congress welcomes interim bail to Setalvad, say many activists deserve relief from 'foisted cases'

The Congress on Friday welcomed the grant of interim bail to Teesta Setalvad by the Supreme Court and said many other dissenters of the Narendra Modi government deserve such relief.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh claimed cases have been foisted against many activists who are critics of the present dispensation.

"The grant of interim bail to Teesta Setalvad by the Supreme Court is welcome. There are a number of other activists, dissenters and critics of the Modi Sarkar who are deserving of such relief from foisted cases," he tweeted.

Granting the relief to Setalvad, arrested on June 25 for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame "innocent people" in the 2002 Gujarat riots cases, the apex court said the high court should have considered releasing her on interim bail during the pendency of her case.

A day after taking a serious view of delayed listing of Setalvad's regular bail plea in the Gujarat High Court, a bench headed by Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit considered facts such as the woman petitioner having been in jail for over two months and subjected to custodial interrogation for seven days while ordering her release till the Gujarat High Court decides the regular bail petition.