Teesta Setalvad faces arrest after Gujarat High Court cancels bail

Teesta Setalvad has been accused of allegedly fabricating the documents pertaining to the 2002 Godhra riots, so as to implicate higher functionaries of the then Gujarat government. The high court has asked her to surrender immediately

Gujarat High Court has rejected the regular bail application filed by rights activist Teesta Setalvad, who has been accused of allegedly fabricating the documents pertaining to the 2002 Godhra riots, so as to implicate higher functionaries of the then Gujarat government. Justice Nirzar Desai, the single-judge hearing the case, declined to extend Setalvad's interim bail, which had been granted by the Supreme Court last year. Consequently, the High Court has ordered Setalvad to surrender herself immediately to the investigating agency handling the case.

Setalvad's counsel sought a 30-day stay on the court's order to allow her to approach the Supreme Court for relief. However, Justice Desai rejected the request, thereby requiring Setalvad to surrender to the investigating agency immediately. Setalvad, along with former top cop RB Sreekumar, was arrested on charges of fabricating evidence, forgery, and criminal conspiracy related to the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The FIR filed by the Gujarat ATS alleges that Setalvad drafted false statements from witnesses and submitted them to the Nanavati Commission, which was established to probe the Gujarat riots. The charge sheet further accuses Setalvad of conspiring to institute a false case with fabricated evidence in an attempt to implicate then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, BJP leaders, and state government officials.

Setalvad, a well-known journalist and activist from Mumbai who received the Padma Shri award, has been actively involved in providing legal aid to the victims of the Gujarat riots through CJP, an organization established in 2002 in response to the aftermath of the riots. Setalvad was previously granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on September 2, 2022, but the recent decision by the Gujarat High Court has denied her request for an extension of this bail.