Social activist Teesta Setalvad was asked to wait for the response of Gujarat Government on their plea.
Social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand were today asked to wait for the response of Gujarat Government on their plea seeking defreezing of their personal bank accounts, with Supreme Court expressing reservation on passing an order pending the probe.
"The whole problem is that investigation must be complete. They must wait till investigation is over. There are allegations of violation of FEMA," a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and C Nagappan said when the matter came up for hearing.
The bench said that before passing any order, it would like to have the assistance of state government's counsel Hemantika Wahi and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who appeared before it.
"We would like to respond to the petition," Mr Mehta told the bench, which agreed to his request to allow Gujarat Government to file a response without issuing it a notice.
As soon as senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Ms Setalvad, told the court that even personal accounts of the couple have been frozen, the bench spoke about the pending probe and asked the social activists to wait for its conclusion.
However, Mr Sibal said, "This is not the FCRA (Foreign Contribution (regulation) Act) matter. This has nothing to do with the FCRA issue."
"Even the accounts of Citizens for Justice and Peace which has nothing to do with the matter have been frozen. There are no allegations against it. Even funds given by Ford Foundation and HRD Ministry are frozen," he said, adding that "the money came through cheque."
To this, the bench said, "We can grant you the liberty to come to the court after investigation is over."
"We are not issuing any notice," the bench said, adding "a copy of the petition be served to the counsel for Gujarat. Let the matter be listed on August 17."
Ms Setalvad, her husband and the two NGOs -- Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace -- have approached the Supreme Court challenging the October 7 verdict of the Gujarat High Court which had rejected their pleas for defreezing their personal bank accounts. The accounts were frozen by the Crime Branch of Ahmedabad Police.