Supreme Court grants regular bail to Teesta Setalvad in post-Godhra riots case, sets aside Gujarat HC order

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted regular bail to activist Teesta Setalvad in connection with a forgery case linked to the 2002 Gujarat riots cases, while discarding the Gujarat government's vehement opposition to it.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai, A S Bopanna, and Dipankar Dutta noted that most of the evidence in the case is documentary in nature, which is in possession of investigating agency, and the chargesheet has already filed, so there was no need for her custody.

"We allow the appeal and the impugned order by the Gujarat High Court order is quashed and set aside. The appellant is directed to be continued on bail,” the bench said.

The court also noted that the observations in the high court order denying her bail are "perverse", since the chargesheet has been filed and her custodial interrogation completed, she should be granted bail. It also pointed out the HC's order is self contradictory as on the one hand, it said it would not go into merits on the other hand, it went into the merits.

The state government, for its part, contended she committed a heinous crime by involving persons, including high dignitaries, in a crime to which they were unconnected, by furnishing false affidavits.

During the hearing, the bench asked the state government as to what investigation it has done from June last year, when the FIR was registered, while observing that there was need to arrest her.

"What were you doing between 2008-2011, please tell us for what purpose you need her custody," the bench asked Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Gujarat government.

"Do you want a person to be an undertrial till the trial court completes the trial," the bench asked Raju who replied this is a case where punishment is life term.

Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Kapil Sibal contended that chargesheet in the matter has been filed and his client has not interfered with the investigation, or influenced anybody.

He said there was no question of running away or tampering with evidence.

"Why deny her bail? Since September last year, when she was granted interim bail by the apex court, Setalvad has not violated her bail conditions," he submitted.

Sibal also questioned arrest of Setalvad, saying the judgment by the apex court, which led to the action against her, did not name her.

"If the person, who has allegedly fabricated an affidavit and made a false statement, has not been made an accused and arrested alongside her, why has she been singled out," he asked.

Sibal said from 2002 to 2022, they have not said anything and no one has said that, and that itself is enough and the problem arises in form of Rais Khan, a prime witness, who was working with Setalvad and she terminated his services and since then, he has been filing complaint after complaint against her and his complaint forms basis of all this. Khan was a former close aide of Setalvad who later fell out with her in 2008.

Raju, for his part, submitted that Setalvad has committed a serious offence and the judgement was based on submissions of the SIT and false allegations were made against high dignitaries and money was taken from Congress party, which was corroborated by Narendra Bhrahmabhatt. He said an allegation has been made in the chargesheet that Setalvad had received Rs 30 lakh from a Congress leader.

On July 5, the Supreme Court extended the interim bail granted to Setalvad till the next hearing on July 19. Earlier, on July 1, the apex court had protected her from arrest and suspended the High Court order passed on the same day denying her the relief.

The FIR in the case was filed by the Gujarat police against Setalvad and others namely former senior police officers R B Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt on the basis of the Supreme Court's judgement in the case of 'Zakia Ahsan Zafri and others Vs State of Gujarat', passed on June 24, 2022.