Gujarat Government Opposes Activist Teesta Setalvad's Discharge Request

The Gujarat government has opposed the discharge application filed by social activist Teesta Setalvad in a sessions court in Ahmedabad in a case of the alleged fabrication of evidence to frame innocent people in 2002 post-Godhra riot cases.

The government on Monday told the court of additional sessions judge Ambalal Patel that Ms Setalvad had abused the trust of the 2002 riots victims.

Ms Setalvad drafted affidavits in their names to implicate innocent persons including then chief minister (now Prime Minister, Narendra Modi), senior officers, and ministers, the government affidavit said.

Notably, the Supreme Court on Saturday protected Ms Setalvad from arrest and stayed for a week the Gujarat High Court order rejecting her request for regular bail and asking her to surrender immediately in the case of the alleged fabrication of evidence.

The case against Ms Setalvad and two other accused -- former Director General of Police (DGP) RB Sreekumar and ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt -- is being heard in the court of additional sessions judge. The court had earlier rejected Mr Sreekumar's discharge plea.

While opposing Ms Setalvad's discharge plea, the government has relied on the statements of witnesses Rais Khan Pathan, who worked at the activist's NGO Citizen for Peace, Narendra Brahmbhatt who had claimed that late Congress leader Ahmed Patel had allegedly paid the activist Rs 30 lakh, and riot victim Qutubuddin Ansari.

The government also highlighted the "contradiction" in the affidavits of riot victims prepared by Ms Setalvad and the statements recorded by them before the court.

"There is sufficient evidence and reasons to file a chargesheet against the accused. For the reasons mentioned above and taking into account the reasons and submissions to be presented during the argument, the court is requested to reject the discharge plea of the accused," the government's affidavit said.

Ms Setalvad was arrested in June last year along with former Gujarat Director General of Police RB Sreekumar and ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in an offence registered by Ahmedabad crime branch police for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame "innocent people" in the post-Godhra riots cases.

She was released on interim bail on September 3.

In its judgment, the high court had observed that prima facie Ms Setalvad used her close associates and riot victims to file "false and fabricated affidavits before the Supreme Court with a view to unseat the establishment and to tarnish the image of establishment and the then chief minister (PM Modi)".

The fabrication of evidence case against Ms Setalvad, Mr Bhatt and Mr Sreekumar was registered a day after the Supreme Court's verdict in the Zakia Jafri case.

The Supreme Court had dismissed a plea of Ms Jafri, the wife of murdered former MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the Special Investigation Team's (SIT) clean chit to 64 people, including then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, in the 2002 Gujarat riots case.

Earlier, the Ahmedabad sessions court had rejected the bail applications of Ms Setalvad and Mr Sreekumar.

Last month, the trial court rejected Mr Sreekumar's plea for discharge in the case. Mr Sreekumar is also out on interim bail granted by the high court.

Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, the third accused in the case, has not applied for bail. Mr Bhatt is already in jail for another criminal matter when he was arrested in this case.

The Ahmedabad city crime branch had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Ms Setalvad and two others under Indian Penal Code sections 468 (forgery for cheating) and 194 (fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offences) of the Indian Penal Code.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)