Defreezing of account: SC asks Guj to reply to Teesta’s plea

“The whole problem is that investigation must be complete. They must wait till the investigation is over. There are allegations of violation of FEMA,” a Bench said.

It said before passing any order, it would like to have the assistance of state government’s counsel Hemantika Wahi and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who appeared before it. “We would like to respond to the petition,” Mehta told the Bench, which agreed to his request to allow the Gujarat government to file a response without issuing it a notice.

As soon as senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Seralvad, told the court that even personal accounts of the couple had been frozen, the Bench spoke about the pending probe and asked the social activists to wait for its conclusion.

However, Sibal said, “This is not the FCRA (Foreign Contribution (regulation) Act) matter...Even the accounts of Citizens for Justice and Peace which has nothing to do with the matter have been frozen. There are no allegations against it. 

Even funds given by Ford Foundation and HRD Ministry are frozen,” he said, adding that “the money came through cheque”.