The Supreme Court on Tuesday permitted activist Teesta Setalvad to travel abroad for a conference, subject to her furnishing a solvent surety of Rs 10 lakh.
The Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan further directed Setalvad to give an undertaking with details of her travel and also ordered that she should return her passport after the conference ends.
The activist is currently out on bail in a criminal case regarding allegations of a conspiracy to malign the State of Gujarat and then Chief Minister Narendra Modi for their handling of the 2002 Gujarat riots.
On July 19, 2023, the Apex Court granted regular bail to Setalvad by overturning a Gujarat High Court verdict in the matter. The top court of the country had then asked the activist to surrender her passport as a condition for bail.
Appearing for the activist, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal today apprised the Apex Court that she was seeking a relaxation of this bail condition to travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from August 31 to September 10 to attend an anti-racism conference.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta contended that if Setalvad was being allowed to travel abroad, conditions should be imposed to assure her return to India.
The SG said the activist should submit the details for the conference and the real purpose of the visit. He said the government had serious apprehension as terror accused and fugitive from Indian law, Zakir Naik, was currently staying in the US.
The Court proceeded to allow Setalvad’s plea after asking her to furnish a solvent surety of Rs 10 lakh and to return her passport after the conference ends.
The Court was initially inclined to set the surety amount at around Rs 25,000. However, it raised the amount following an objection by SG Mehta, who said that Rs 25,000 would be nothing for her.
Sibal replied that Setalvad’s accounts remained frozen.
Setalvad was arrested a day after a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court made certain adverse remarks against her on June 24, 2022, while dismissing a plea filed by Zakia Jafri, the wife of slain Congress Member of Parliament (MP), Ehsan Jafri who was killed during the 2002 Gujarat Riots.
Zakia Jafri had challenged the Gujarat High Court’s 2017 order upholding a magistrate’s decision to accept a closure report filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the case.
While dismissing the plea, the Apex Court made certain observations against Setalvad and former Director General of Police, Sreekumar, terming them “disgruntled.”
The Supreme Court said that there was a coalesced effort by the two to create a sensation by making revelations that were false to their own knowledge.
Subsequently, Setalvad was arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad from Mumbai and taken to Gujarat. Sreekumar was also arrested in Gujarat.
The activist was accused of fabricating documents and tutoring witnesses to implicate higher functionaries of the Gujarat government led by then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, in the Gujarat riots case.
The Supreme Court granted her interim bail in this case in September 2022.
Her regular bail was later rejected by a trial court as well as the Gujarat High Court.
The High Court rejected her bail plea on July 1, 2023, and also ordered her immediate arrest. This order was stayed on the same day by the Supreme Court. The Apex Court granted regular bail to Setalvad on July 19, 2023.