Supreme Court to hear activist Setalvad's bail plea on Aug 30

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday said it would hear on August 30 the bail plea by activist Teesta Setalvad, arrested for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame "innocent people" in the 2002 Gujarat riots cases.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Gujarat, told a bench headed by Justice U U Lalit that a response to Setalvad's petition is ready but it requires some corrections.

The bench, also comprising Justices S R Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia, said that the response to the petition be filed by August 27.

"He (Mehta) submits that a response to the petition is ready but needs further corrections. He assures the court that the response shall be filed on or before Saturday. The rejoinder, if any, be filed by Monday (August 29)," the bench said, adding the matter would be taken up for hearing as the first item on August 30.

As Mehta was seeking time to file a reply, the bench observed that the point is that she is behind the bars.

The solicitor general said she is in custody according to law and requested the bench that the matter can be taken up for a hearing on coming Monday.

"We know the difficulty but we will list it as the first time on Tuesday," the bench told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was appearing for Setalvad.