Human rights activist Teesta Setalvad has argued before Gujarat High Court, which is hearing her bail plea in cases related to the 2002 riots, that witnesses had made contradictory statements and that fresh allegations were being made after 14 years before a new special investigation team.
Setalvad concluded her arguments for bail before the high court on Tuesday. The state is expected to submit its rejoinder on Wednesday.
Setalvad and a former DGP of the Gujarat police, R.B. Sreekumar, were arrested in June for several offences related to alleged conspiracy to falsify evidence to frame innocent persons in connection with the riots.
The FIR against them, as well as jailed ex-cop Sanjiv Bhatt, came after the Supreme Court dismissed a plea by Zakia Jafri, the widow of slain Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, against the findings of an earlier SIT that gave a clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in connection with the riots.
Setalvad is under interim protection from the Supreme Court afterspending almost 70 days in prison in Gujarat. She is currently seeking permanent bail from the high court. She also faces eight previous FIRs in Gujarat.
Teesta's counsel Mihir Thakore alleged in the high court that some witnesses have made contradictory statements at different stages — before the Supreme Court in affidavit, then stating that some parts of the affidavit were incorrect and now saying that the affidavit was never read out to them.
The counsel said bail should not be denied on the basis of the self-contradicting statements made by the same witness at different points of time.
Thakore said Setalvad’s role may be that she helped draft the affidavits, but that does not in itself amount to forgery or false evidence.
Thakore also stated that the affidavits were for transfer of trial, not related to the actual trial or the allegation of a larger conspiracy behind the riots made by Zakia in her complaint.
Thakore pointed out that a former aide and employee of Setalvad had made several allegations against her — related to forgery of witness affidavits — after being terminated from service in 2008. The allegations, Thakore pointed out, did not hold water in court. After the new SIT was formed, the former aide has come forward to allege that Setalvad was part of a plot to topple the then Modi government in Gujarat, an allegation the ex-aide had not made before.