JOIN USGujarat court denies bail to Teesta, Sreekumar, says relief would 'encourage wrongdoers'
A city sessions court on Saturday rejected the regular bail applications of Mumbai activist Teesta Setalvad and ex-DGP R B Sreekumar who are lodged at Sabarmati Central Jail in connection with an FIR for allegedly fabricating evidence and tutoring witnesses to seek a conviction in 2002 post-Godhra riot cases.
Rejecting their pleas, additional principal judge, D D Thakkar, stated in his order, before using his discretionary power of bail, the court was required to consider the gravity, nature and the accusations levelled against the accused.
Thakkar, who is scheduled to retire today, has noted in the order, "In case on hand, the applicants-accused have in conspiracy with others with a view to defame the then C M (Narendra Modi, now the prime minister) and others made accusations against Government that post-Godhra riots were sponsored by the Government and thereby defamed the State not only in the country but in the world also and with ulterior motive thereby obtained personal goal and monetary benefit from one political faction as well as other countries and this case has been registered pursuant to the final decision of the complaint given by Zakia Jafri of dated 08/06/2006 and Zakia Jafri was guided by both these applicants-accused and others."
The order further adds that if the accused are enlarged on bail, it will encourage the wrongdoers that despite "such type of accusations against the then CM and others," the bail was granted. "Therefore, looking to the above facts and circumstance, even though the applicant is being a lady (Setalvad) and another is retired IPS officer (Sreekumar) and aged person, they are not required to be enlarged on bail (sic)," the order noted.
The state government had opposed their bail pleas claiming that Setalvad, Sreekumar and another co-accused ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt were part of a "larger conspiracy" that wanted to "destabilize" the then Gujarat government led by then chief minister Narendra Modi at the "behest" of senior Congress leader late Ahmed Patel.
The prosecution alleged that Setalvad received Rs 30 lakh as funds from Ahmed Patel at different occasions as part of the "conspiracy" to derail the Modi government back then. These allegations are based on statements of three witnesses and one of them is said to be Setalvad's former employee Rais Khan Pathan. Pathan, who worked with Teesta with her NGO, Citizen for Justice and Pace (CJP) had parted away with Setalvad.
Setalvad and Sreekumar were arrested hours after an FIR was registered on June 25 based on a Supreme Court order on a petition of Zakia Jafri, wife of slain ex-Congress MP Ahsan Jafri, challenging the clean chit given to Modi and others in 2002 riots cases. While upholding the clean chit, the apex court made adverse remarks against them while stating, "those who had kept the pot boiling" with an "ulterior motive" for the past 16 years should be in the dock and be "proceeded with in accordance with the law".