Teesta Setalvad's Plea For Discharge In Gujarat Riots Case Rejected By Sessions Court In Ahmedabad

Teesta Setalvad's application for discharge in a case related to the fabrication of evidence linked to the 2002 Gujarat riots was rejected by a sessions court in Ahmedabad on Thursday (July 20).

In addition to rejecting the plea, the additional sessions judge, A R Patel, has instructed the prosecution and defense to commence trial proceedings from July 24.

The Gujarat government opposed Teesta Setalvad's application, arguing that she betrayed the trust of the riot victims and falsely implicated innocent individuals.

Following the denial of relief by the Gujarat High Court, Teesta Setalvad was granted bail in the same case by the Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 19).

Setalvad, along with two others, namely former state Director General of Police R B Sreekumar and former Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt, was arrested by the city crime branch in June 2022. They were charged with forgery and fabricating false evidence with the intention of implicating Gujarat government officials in the 2002 riots cases.

Judge A R Patel had previously denied Sreekumar's request for discharge. Bhatt has not yet sought similar relief.

In response to Setalvad's discharge plea, the state government claimed in a written reply that she had drafted affidavits in the names of riots victims to falsely implicate innocent individuals, including the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, senior officers, and state ministers.

To support their case, the state government relied on statements from witnesses Rais Khan Pathan, a former employee of Setalvad's NGO Citizen for Peace, Narendra Brahmbhatt, who alleged that the late Congress leader Ahmed Patel had paid the activist ₹ 30 lakh, and riots victim Qutubuddin Ansari.

The government pointed out inconsistencies in the affidavits of riot victims prepared by Setalvad and their own statements given in court.

According to the government affidavit, there was enough evidence and justification to file charges against the accused.

Setalvad's lawyer attempted to refute the claim that evidence was fabricated to incriminate innocent individuals, stating that the alleged false affidavits had been signed by witnesses and submitted to various courts.

Therefore, the defense argued that these affidavits cannot be considered as fabricated evidence. Testimonies of witnesses were recorded by the courts based on the signed affidavits, the laywer said.

The case against Setalvad and others was registered following a Supreme Court judgement on June 24, 2022. The judgement was based on a petition by Zakia Jafri, who alleged a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 post-Godhra communal riots.

Notably, Zakia Jafri is the wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was among those killed during the riots.

The Supreme Court judgement of June 2022 upheld the clean chit given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi (then Chief Minister of Gujarat) and other state functionaries.

The judgement also noted that certain individuals had kept the case "boiling" for ulterior motives, and that those involved in such abuse of process should be held accountable according to the law. This was in reference to Teesta Setalvad and other accused.