The Supreme Court shielded social activist Teesta Setalvad from arrest late Saturday night and suspended the order of the Gujarat High Court for a week
Release date – Sunday, July 23 at 12:15
Delhi/Mumbai: Late Saturday night, the Supreme Court shielded social activist Teesta Setalvad from arrest and suspended for a week the order of the Gujarat High Court, rejecting her 2002 plea for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent people , and asked her to surrender immediately. – Godra riot case.
In an extraordinary late-night hearing, Judges BR Gavai, AS Bopanna and Dipankar Datta challenged the deprivation of time for Setalvad to appeal the HC order, saying that even ordinary criminals are entitled to some form of interim relief.
“Under normal circumstances, we would not consider such a request. But it is worth noting that after the FIR was registered on June 25, 2022, and the applicant was arrested, this court considered the request for provisional bail, and on September 2022 Temporary bail was granted under certain conditions on the 2nd. One of the factors considered by the court is that the petitioner is a woman, who is entitled to special protection under Article 437 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
“We found that, given this fact, some protection should be granted by the learned single judge so that the petitioner would have sufficient time to challenge the order passed by the single judge,” the judge said after a 37-minute hearing. In the circumstances of the case, we believe that the learned single judge was incorrect in granting certain protections, so we have reserved the challenged order for 1 week. “
The apex court said the registry should obtain an order from the CJI to list Setalvad’s bail request before an appropriate judge.
As the three-judge hearing began, Senior Defense Counsel CU Singh of Setalvad said the Supreme Court had granted the activist interim protection on September 2, 2022, pending a ruling on her bail application by the High Court.
Singh said it was nobody’s business that she violated any condition of her temporary bail.
“The Gujarat High Court refused to stay the order for 30 days, but no reason was given in the order to explain the refusal and ordered immediate handover,” he said.
Solicitor General Tushal Mehta, who appeared on behalf of the Gujarat government, urged the court to treat Setalwad the same as any ordinary citizen.
“I hope your Excellencies will take the same approach as they did with an ordinary man who was refused bail because he was an ordinary criminal,” the officer said.
At this point, the judge observed, “A person has been released on bail within the past 10 months by order of this court. What urgency is there not to allow a person to challenge that order for even seven days? The sky is falling Down? We can’t understand what the High Court is doing. What’s the urgency of the shock?” Mehta said the man didn’t think she should be treated like a common criminal.
“She was an ordinary criminal,” he said. “Interim relief is available even to common criminals,” Judge Gawai said.
Mehta pointed out that Teesta had launched a campaign to make false accusations against everyone.
“Riots did happen and people were killed in both communities. But she saw an opportunity and came to court with false charges. The Supreme Court set up a special investigative unit and worked under its watch.
“The petitioner submitted false affidavits and directed witnesses. She also started fundraising for victims of the riots. The petitioner was defamed not only at home but abroad, the entire country. This is not about one person. These crimes It violates the integrity of the country,” he said.
Responding to Mehta’s arguments, Judge Dutta noted, “Mr Counsel, her actions are probably reprehensible.” The only question is whether the person is not entitled to provisional bail. The three judges heard the matter in a special hearing after two holiday judges disagreed on granting Setawad temporary protection from arrest.
Facing imminent arrest, Setawad quickly applied to the Supreme Court seeking protection from arrest, but a two-judge panel on leave failed to agree on granting her interim relief.
Judge Abhay S Oka and Judge Prashant Kumar Mishra on leave referred the matter to Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, who quickly formed a three-judge bench to hear Setalvad’s petition challenging the High Court order at 9:15 p.m. Book.
“After hearing this particular petition for some time, we were unable to agree in deciding on the prayer for interim relief. Therefore, it is proper that this petition be referred to the appropriate larger judge by order of His Excellency the Chief Justice of India .
“The Registrar (Judicial) is directed to issue this order immediately to His Excellency the Chief Justice of India,” by Abhay S Oka and Prashant Kumar Mishra The judges’ two-judge panel said earlier in the evening.
Earlier in the day, Gujarat High Court judge Nilzar Desai directed her to surrender immediately after she was released from jail on provisional bail from the Supreme Court in September last year.
The court observed Setalwad’s attempt to disrupt the elected government and tarnish the image of then chief minister and current prime minister Narendra Modi and try to send him to jail.
Setawad, along with ex-Gujarat police chief RB Sreekumar and ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, was arrested in June last year on charges registered by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch Police for alleged rioting in the post-Ghodra case. Fabricated evidence to frame “innocents”.
In its judgment, the High Court noted that Setawad ostensibly used her close associates and victims of the riots to submit “false and fabricated affidavits to the Supreme Court with the aim of overthrowing and discrediting those in power and the then Chief Minister. image (Modi)”.
If today a political party entrusts her with the task of disrupting the (then) government, tomorrow “some external force may exploit and persuade a person to make an effort along similar lines, creating danger to the country or a particular country by acting in the same way ” “, it says.
Extending her bail conditions would send the wrong signal that everything in a democracy is so lenient, “even if one did everything in his power to overthrow the then-establishment and tarnish the image of the then-chief minister in order to prove that he was the leader,” the court said. People can be released on bail, a harsh indictment of the Padma Shri laureate and former planning committee member.
Reports say she helped victims of the riots with the aim of gaining personal and political gain by raising huge sums of money, casting herself as a social leader and eventually becoming a planning committee member.
The court said witness testimony showed that she prepared false affidavits and persuaded victims to take them to the Supreme Court and other forums, listing the names of innocent people, only to realize that she and the late Congress leader Ahmad De Patel’s personal and political agenda. in its order.
Since the Supreme Court is on summer vacation, and today is Saturday, the court is on holiday, Court No. 12 has only judges, a few lawyers and court staff, and three judges heard the case.
