The Supreme Court granted bail to Teesta: Passport will have to be surrendered until the case is heard in the High Court, she will come out of jail tomorrow.
Teesta Setalvad
Activist Teesta Setalwad, arrested in the Gujarat riots conspiracy case, has been granted bail by the Supreme Court. On Friday, the hearing was held for more than 1 hour and 10 minutes in the bench of Chief Justice UU Lalit. While pronouncing the order, the Chief Justice said that Teesta remained either in remand or in custody since her arrest. They can no longer be kept in jail.
The court said in its order that Teesta will have to surrender her passport as long as the case is with the High Court. Teesta will be able to come out of jail tomorrow i.e. Saturday after completing the legal process. On June 25, Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested Sitalwad from Mumbai. On July 30, the lower court rejected his bail.
On August 30, the Gujarat government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court opposing Teesta’s bail. The government said that the FIR against Teesta is not only based on the Supreme Court decision, but also supported by evidence.
We Welcome Supreme Court order to release Teesta Setalvad on interim bail . This order addresses the injustice of Gujarat High Court to delay the hearing. CPI(M) extends solidarity to Teesta—she has done no wrong—unless to fight for justice for communal violence victims is wrong pic.twitter.com/A2hUiHzVHw
— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) September 2, 2022
The investigation conducted so far has brought on record the material to justify the FIR, which makes it clear that the applicant had committed criminal acts along with the other accused to get political, financial and other material benefits.
The Supreme Court had on June 24 dismissed the plea against the SIT report that gave a clean chit to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots case. The petition was filed by Zakia Jafri. Zakia Jafari’s husband Ehsan Jafari was killed in these riots.
The Supreme Court said that there is no merit in Zakia’s petition. The court also said that Teesta, the co-petitioner in the case, played with Zakia Jafri’s feelings. The court had asked to investigate Teesta’s role. After which Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested Teesta from Mumbai on June 25.
