Gujarat riots case: Supreme Court grants bail to activist Teesta Setalvad, sets aside HC order

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to activist Teesta Setalvad, setting aside an earlier order of the Gujarat High Court which asked her to surrender in a case linked to the Gujarat riots in 2002.

“The Gujarat High Court’s order is quashed and set aside… Protection granted to her by this court shall be extended. Passport will remain in custody. Petitioner shall not attempt to influence witnesses,” Live Law quoted the court as saying in its order.

A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, AS Bopanna and Dipankar Datta quashed the Gujarat High Court’s order which denied her regular bail and observed that the observations by the High Court in its order were “perverse” and “contradictory”.

The top court further held that the custodial interrogation of Setalvad was not necessary since the chargesheet in the case has already been filed. Setalvad was granted bail on the condition that she will not try to influence or intimidate the witnesses in the case.

The Gujarat High Court had on July 1 rejected Setalvad’s bail application and directed her to surrender before authorities immediately.

In its order, the bench noted, “The limited understanding of law we have is that the considerations which are required to be taken into consideration for grant of bail are (1)prima facie case, (2) the possibility of the accused tampering the evidence or influencing the witness, (3) fleeing away from the justice. The other considerations are gravity and seriousness of the offence.

“If the observation of the learned judge are to be accepted, no application for bail can be accepted unless the accused files an application for quashing the proceedings…To say the least, the findings are totally perverse.”

The court further observed that on the one hand, the HC judge discusses the statements of some witnesses and finds that prima facie case is made out. “The findings are totally contradictory, to say the least,” it said in its order, according to Live Law.

Setalvad is under the scanner for allegedly fabricating evidence and instituting false proceedings in the Godhra riots of 2002. Setalvad was booked in 2022, a day after the apex court dismissed a petition filed by Zakia Ehsan Jafri alleging a larger conspiracy during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

(With Live Law inputs)