Supreme Court Grants Interim Protection To Teesta Setalvad For 7 Days ; Stays HC Order After Special Night Sitting

The Supreme Court at a special sitting on Saturday night granted interim relief to social activist Teesta Setalvad in connection with an FIR lodged against her by Gujarat police for allegedly fabricating documents to implicate high government functionaries in relation to the 2002 Gujarat riots. While staying the Gujarat High Court's order which dismissed her bail application and directed Setalvad to immediately surrender, the 3-judge bench took note of the earlier order passed by the Supreme Court in September 2022 which granted her interim bail. The bench noted that while passing the September 2022 order, the earlier bench led by the then CJI UU Lalit had taken into account the fact that the petitioner was a lady who was entitled to special protection under Section 437 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Taking this factor into consideration, the bench opined, the single bench of the High Court ought to have granted some protection to the petitioner so that she can challenge the order before the Supreme Court. The bench directed that the High Court's order be stayed for a week. While doing so, the bench clarified that it has not gone into the merits of the matter and was only concerned with the High Court's rejection of interim relief."In that view of the matter, without considering anything on merits of the matter, finding that the learned Single Judge was not correct in granting even some protection, we grant stay of the impugned order passed by the High Court for a period of one week from today", observed the bench.This urgent hearing was conducted by a three-judge bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, AS Bopanna, and Dipankar Dutta after Justices Abhay S Oka and Prashant Kumar Mishra differed with respect to granting Setalvad bail earlier today. The smaller division bench was hearing an appeal against a ruling of the Gujarat High Court in the morning, declining the activist's request for normal regular bail. While Justice Oka was in favour of granting interim protection to Setalvad, Justice Mishra disagreed. Owing to the lack of consensus between the member judges, the bench ultimately directed the matter to be placed before the Chief Justice of India to be assigned to a larger bench.Courtroom ExchangeBefore the three-judge bench, Senior Advocate CU Singh, appearing for Teesta Setalvad, pointed out that the a 3-judge bench of the Supreme Court in September 2022 had granted interim bail to Setalvad till the High Court decided her bail application.He argued that no case was made out that Setalvad had breached any condition of the interim bail granted to her by the top court last year. He added, "The high court also refused to stay the operation of the order for 30 days, but no reasons were given to explain the rejection. Immediate surrender was ordered". He pointed out that chargesheet in the case was filed in September last year and the trial is yet to begin.Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, representing the State of Gujarat, urged the court to mete out the same treatment to Setalvad as received by any ordinary citizen. "I would expect Your Lordships to do the same thing which will be done in the case of a common man who has been rejected bail since she is a common criminal," the law officer argued.However, the bench expressed its disapproval over the 'alarming' urgency exhibited by the high court in asking Setalvad to immediately surrender, after being enlarged on interim bail for ten months. "What is the urgency in taking her into custody? Will the skies fall if interim protection is granted for some days? We are taken by surprise by what the high court has done. What is the alarming urgency?" "Even common criminals are granted interim relief," Justice Gavai added, countering the solicitor-general's argument about preferential treatment. To emphasise the seriousness of the offences against Setalvad, Mehta said:"She started a campaign making false allegations. The riot did take place, and people from both communities were killed. But, she saw an opportunity and came to this court with false allegations. A special investigation team was constituted by the Supreme Court and operated under its monitoring. This SIT has received pre-typed and pre-signed statements. The witnesses later told the SIT that they were unaware of the contents and were given the statements by this same petitioner...The petitioner has filed false affidavits, and tutored witnesses. She also started collecting money for riots victims. The entire nation was maligned, not only inside the country but outside the country, by the petitioner. It is not a question of one individual. These offences are against the integrity of the nation."However, this argument did not find favour with the bench, which emphasised that where there was a difference of opinion, the court must rule in favour of liberty. Justice Datta said:"Mr Solicitor, her conduct might be reprehensible. The only question is whether the person is not entitled to interim bail."The law ...

Supreme Court Grants Interim Protection To Teesta Setalvad For 7 Days ; Stays HC Order After Special Night Sitting

Awstika Das

'Will skies fall if interim protection is granted for one week?', asked the three judge bench, which assembled after a split in a two-judge bench.

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