Activist Teesta Setalvad asked to surrender ‘immediately’ as Gujarat HC cancels her bail

Ahmedabad: After her regular plea application was rejected, the Gujarat High Court ordered activist Teesta Setalvad for an immediate surrender in cases related to her alleged involvement in a hatching conspiracy against the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi and BJP leaders in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Teesta Setalvad has been under protection from arrest for over a year due to the Supreme Court order granting her interim bail in September 2022, which occurred after her initial arrest.

Setalvad's arrest last year, along with former IPS officer R.B. Sreekumar, occurred just a day after the Supreme Court dismissed a plea against the clean chit given to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others over allegations of conspiracy in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The Supreme Court criticized the proceedings initiated by Zakia Jafri, wife of riot victim Ehsan Jafri, stating that they were intended to "keep the pot boiling, obviously, for ulterior design." The court emphasized the need to hold accountable those involved in such abuses of the legal process.

The chargesheet against Setalvad alleges that she attempted to implicate Narendra Modi, BJP leaders, and state government officials by conspiring to fabricate false evidence. Setalvad, a journalist and activist based in Mumbai, is a founding trustee and secretary of the NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP).

The CJP was established in 2002 after the Gujarat riots with a focus on providing legal assistance to the victims. Setalvad played a crucial role in bringing the cases of riot victims to the forefront, leading to the Supreme Court's establishment of a Special Investigation Team to investigate the violence six years later.

According to a source close to Setalvad, she was already involved in human rights work through her Mumbai-based NGO Sabrang Trust when the Gujarat riots occurred. Deeply moved by the plight of the victims, she travelled to Gujarat, spoke to the survivors, and decided to take up their cases. However, soon after her involvement, she found herself facing counter-cases, including charges of hurting religious feelings and fabricating false evidence.

Over the years, Setalvad faced further challenges, including allegations of tutoring witnesses and misuse of funds. Some victims of the Gulberg Society riots case accused her, her husband Javed Anand, and Ehsan Jafri's son Tanveer of criminal breach of trust and cheating, alleging that foreign donations intended for the establishment of a museum were misused for personal purposes.

Subsequently, the bank accounts of Sabrang NGO were frozen. Setalvad and Anand have moved a petition to quash the FIR, which remains pending before the Gujarat HC.

Teesta Setalvad's lineage boasts a family of legal luminaries, including her grandfather, M.C. Setalvad, India's first Attorney General, and her great-grandfather, Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad, who served as one of the three Indian members on the Hunter Commission investigating the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

As Setalvad's legal battles continue, her fate hanan gs in the balance. The activist, once hailed for her work in seeking justice for the victims of the Gujarat riots, now faces the possibility of imprisonment as her legal troubles intensify.

With the rejection of her bail application, it remains to be seen how Setalvad's case will unfold in the coming days and what impact it will have on the larger discourse surrounding the 2002 Gujarat riots.