Teesta Setalvad.
New Delhi: On Wednesday, the Supreme Court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Gujarat government why they want to send activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband, Javed Anand, back to jail. The court reminded that both have been out of jail for more than seven years on anticipatory bail, PTI reported.
"Question is, how long can you keep someone in custody. Seven years have passed since anticipatory bail was granted. You want to send her back to custody," a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Abhay S Oka and BV Nagarathna said.
Counsel for the CBI and the Gujarat government requested the court to grant four weeks time to file additional material on cases against the two.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Aparna Bhat, appearing for Ms Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand, said in one of the proceedings in which the CBI has come in appeal, anticipatory bail was granted following which a charge sheet was filed and after that regular bail was granted to her.
He said since a regular bail was granted, the appeal of the probe agency against anticipatory bail did not survive.
But the opposing councel said that there is more than one case against Setalvad.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing after four weeks.
The top court was hearing a batch of pleas filed by Ms Setalvad, Mr Anand, the Gujarat police and the CBI arising out of three FIRs lodged against the couple.
The case against Setalvad and her husband was alleged embezzlement of funds for a museum at Ahmedabad's Gulbarg Society, devastated in the 2002 riots. On March 19, 2015, the Supreme Court referred to a larger bench the anticipatory bail plea of the duo and extended its interim order protecting them against arrest.