Teesta Setalvad, her husband and the two NGOs have alleged that their accounts were "illegally freezed"
The Supreme Court will take up the pleas filed by social activist Teesta Setalvad and her two controversial NGOs next month, challenging the freezing of their accounts by the Ahmedabad Police for final disposal.
A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy directed the Gujarat government to file its response to the pleas by November 16 and a rejoinder thereafter in a week, while fixing December 1 for final disposal of the pleas.
Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for Ms Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand, alleged that the Gujarat government had taken three adjournments in the matter, after notice was issued to them and their accounts have remained frozen for nearly three years.
Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Gujarat government, said that the state needed time to file its reply to the pleas.
Ms Setalvad, her husband and their NGOs -- Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace -- have approached the apex court challenging the October 2016 verdict of the Gujarat High Court which had rejected their pleas of defreezing their personal bank accounts.
One of the residents of Gulberg Society, Firoz Khan Pathan, had filed a complaint against Ms Setalvad and others alleging that money was raised to make a museum at Gulberg Society in the memory of those who were killed during the 2002 Gujarat riots, but it had not been utilised for the purpose.
The action of the Ahmedabad Police had come soon after its crime branch had started probing a case in which Ms Setalvad and others were accused of misappropriating Rs 1.51 crore collected to convert Gulberg Society -- where 69 people were killed during the post-Godhra riots -- into a 2002 riots museum.
The high court had upheld the verdict of a lower court in this regard observing that the probe was at a serious point in the alleged case of Gulberg Society fund embezzlement.
The petitioners have alleged that their accounts were "illegally freezed" in their plea before the apex court.
"The freezing of the accounts of the petitioner has led to personal hardship and humiliation. It is also a violation of the fundamental rights of life, association and assembly. The aim of the respondents was and is to humiliate and defame the Petitioner in every way possible as also to financially cripple the Trusts and even block her personal finances so that legitimate activities come to a standstill," the plea mentions.
In the embezzlement case lodged by the Gujarat Police, the couple had challenged the cancellation of bail in the apex court.
In the alleged Foreign Contribution Regulation Act or FCRA violation case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has challenged the anticipatory bail granted to them by the Bombay High Court.
Both the matters are pending before a three judge bench of the Supreme Court.
Gujarat Police has filed an affidavit in the apex court alleging that the funds collected by them for setting up the museum in memory of the riots victims of Gulberg Society was spent on personal use.