The Supreme Court has moved activist Teesta Setalvad’s plea for the release of her passport to a three-judge bench, noting that her bail conditions were originally set by a bench of similar strength.

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma on Monday directed the registry to place the matter before Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, observing that the bail was granted by a three-judge bench in the case concerning alleged fabrication of documents to frame innocent persons in the 2002 post-Godhra riot cases.

Appearing for Setalvad, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the court that one of the bail conditions required her passport to remain in the custody of the sessions court.

On July 19, 2023, in a relief to Setalvad, the top court granted her regular bail in the case while terming the Gujarat High Court order denying her the relief "perverse" and "contradictory". Quashing the July 1, 2023 order, the three-judge bench held that her custodial interrogation was not necessary since the chargesheet had been filed and most evidence was documentary in nature.

The court had directed that Setalvad’s passport, already surrendered, would remain with the sessions court and that she should not attempt to influence witnesses. It also allowed the Gujarat Police to approach the apex court directly if any such attempt was made.

The FIR against Setalvad was lodged following the Supreme Court’s June 24, 2022 verdict in the Zakia Jafri case, which alleged a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 Gujarat riots and challenged a 2017 Gujarat High Court order rejecting her petition against the findings of the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was killed during the Gulberg housing society violence, had pursued the case. Setalvad, through her counsel, argued that the top court had made certain observations in the Zakia Jafri judgment without hearing her and that her name was not mentioned.

Setalvad was arrested a day after the Supreme Court upheld the clean chit given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Gujarat riots case. The FIR against her, along with former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and former Gujarat DGP R B Sreekumar, followed the apex court’s observation that some people kept "the pot boiling" in the case "for ulterior designs" and that "all those involved in such abuse of process need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with the law".

The bench also noted that these observations in the 2022 verdict were made without hearing Setalvad, as the Gujarat government had opposed her intervention.

Earlier, on July 5, 2023, the apex court had extended her interim protection from arrest till July 19 while issuing notice to the state on her appeal. In a late-night hearing on July 1, 2023, it had stayed the high court’s order denying bail and granted her interim protection, questioning the urgency imposed on her surrender and observing that even an ordinary criminal is entitled to interim relief.

Setalvad was initially taken into custody on June 25, 2022, along with Sreekumar and Bhatt, in a case registered by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch for allegedly fabricating evidence. A sessions court in Ahmedabad had earlier rejected their bail pleas on July 30, 2022, stating that their release could send a message that one can level allegations with impunity and evade consequences.