SC extends activist Teesta Setalvad's interim bail till July 19
The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the interim bail of activist Teesta Setalvad till the next hearing on July 19, NDTV reported. Earlier, she was granted seven-day interim bail on Saturday in an urgent hearing by the court. She got relief almost a year after the Gujarat Police arrested her for allegedly fabricating evidence linked to the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Supreme Court hearing Setalvad's pleas against Gujarat High Court orders
The Supreme Court is hearing the activist's plea challenging the Gujarat High Court ruling ordering her surrender in the case. The high court had also denied her request for regular bail. On July 1, the Supreme Court protected her from arrest and placed the HC ruling on hold. The three-judge panel questioned why the activist was denied time to appeal the high court judgment.
Setalvad was first arrested on June 25
Setalvad was arrested on June 25, 2022, after the Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) accused her of "conspiring to implicate innocent people" in the 2002 Gujarat riots. She was later placed in police remand for seven days before being transferred to judicial custody. In addition to Setalvad, former Indian Police Services (IPS) officer RB Sreekumar was arrested.
Know about chargesheet against Setalvad
Reportedly, the arrests of Setalvad and Sreekumar came a day after the Supreme Court dismissed a plea challenging the clean chit given to the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi in the riot-related charges. Furthermore, the chargesheet accused Setalvad of attempting to "implicate" Modi, other BJP leaders, and the then-state government through "a conspiracy" to file a "false case with false evidence."
Setalvad was first to highlight cases of Gujarat riot victims
Setalvad, a 61-year-old activist-journalist and Padma Shri awardee based out of Mumbai, Maharashtra, was among the first activists to take up the cases of the 2002 riot victims. However, she faced counter-cases almost immediately. In 2006, she was slapped with several FIRs, one of which accused her and her associates of unauthorized digging on burial places of Muslim riot victims.
