The Gujarat High Court has served a notice to the state government regarding a plea filed by social activist Teesta Setalvad, who seeks to annul a First Information Report (FIR) against her. This FIR accuses her of allegedly fabricating evidence in cases related to the 2002 riots.
Justice JC Doshi’s court issued notices to both the state government and the investigating officer in the case, returnable on November 29. Additionally, the court also provided notice on Ms. Setalvad’s request for interim relief, proposing to halt the ongoing trial, also returnable on the same date. The court instructed the investigating officer to submit a progress report on the investigation and granted the petitioner permission to submit additional documents through an affidavit.
Despite the sessions court’s rejection of Ms. Setalvad’s discharge plea in the case, she was granted bail by the Supreme Court in July after the Gujarat High Court’s denial of relief.
Teesta Setalvad, along with two others – former state Director General of Police R B Sreekumar and former Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt – were arrested by the Crime Branch in June 2022 on charges of forgery and fabricating false evidence with the intent to implicate Gujarat government officials, including then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, in the 2002 riots.
The FIR was filed against them shortly after the Supreme Court dismissed the plea filed by Zakia Jafri last year. Her husband, former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, was killed during the riots.
Teesta Setalvad faces charges under sections 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 194 (providing or fabricating false evidence with the intent to secure conviction for a capital offense) of the Indian Penal Code, among others.
The plea alleges a “larger conspiracy” behind the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat, involving then Chief Minister Modi. The court affirmed the Special Investigation Team’s clearance for Modi and 63 others.
In its judgment, the Supreme Court noted, “The falsity of their claims had been fully exposed by the SIT after a thorough investigation… As a matter of fact, all those involved in such abuse of process, need to be in the dock and proceed in accordance with law.”
Ehsan Jafri was one of the 68 individuals killed at Ahmedabad’s Gulberg Society during the violence on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train burning that claimed 59 lives.
The riots claimed the lives of 1,044 people, predominantly Muslims. Providing specifics, the Central government informed the Rajya Sabha in May 2005 that 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims lost their lives in the post-Godhra riots.
