Journalist, educationist and human rights defender Teesta Setalvad appeared before an Ahmedabad Court today for a hearing of her bail plea. But the State asked for more time to file their response, and therefore the matter was adjourned to July 15.
Readers would recall that on June 25, just a day after the judgement was delivered in the Zakia Jafri case, a unit of the Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) had barged into Setalvad’s ancestral bungalow in Mumbai and whisked her away to Ahmedabad after a brief pitstop at the Santacruz Police Station.
The Zakia Jafri case was originally moved by Zakia Jafri, the widow of Ehsan Jafri, a Congress Member of Parliament who was brutally murdered during the communal violence at Gulberg society in 2002 CJP through its secretary Teesta Setalvad, was the second petitioner in the case. Deeming Setalvad’s involvement in the case to be malicious, the court, in its judgment, had observed, “As a matter of fact, all those involved in such abuse of process, need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law.”
The FIR against Setalvad quoted the same line from the judgment, thereby confirming that it was the observations of the court in the judgment that had precipitated the arrest. Baseless charges of forgery and criminal conspiracy were levelled against her, as well as former Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) RB Sreekumar and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, two of the whistleblowers whose statements had helped build the Zakia Jafri case.
Setalvad was formally arrested on June 26, and the metropolitan magistrate’s court had remanded her to police custody. When she was next produced before the court on July 2, the police said they did not need her further custody, and Setalvad was remanded to judicial custody and sent to the Sabarmati Jail pending bail.
On July 6, Additional Sessions Judge DD Thakkar admitted Setalvad’s plea for regular bail. Sreekumar, who had also been arrested around the same time as Setalvad, had also moved court for bail on July 5. Both Setalvad and Sreekumar have maintained that the charges of forgery, criminal conspiracy etc. against them are completely baseless and no case can be made out against them based on these charges.
The court then issued notice to the State seeking response and scheduled both bail hearings on July 8. But now the State says that they need more time. Setalvad and Sreekumar’s bail plea will be heard next on July 15. Bhatt is already behind bars serving his sentence in a case pertaining to custodial death, one that he maintains was a false case driven by retribution.
Related:
Teesta Setalvad applies for bail
Review order and withdraw observations against Teesta Setalvad and whistleblowers: CCG to SC