Foreign contribution case: CBI court rejects Teesta’s plea

“The anticipatory bail application is rejected,” said Special judge Anis Khan, while turning down the plea. 

Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand had moved the court for bail on July 17.

Immediately after the order, Setalvad told the court that she was shocked. “I am shocked and aggrieved by the verdict as this is a petty offence. My sympathisers feel that this is an attempt (by the government) to intimidate and possibly eliminate us by the powers (sic).”

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had on July 8 registered a case against Setalvad and Anand, alleging that her firm Sabrang Communication and Publishing Pvt Limited (SCPPL) had received around $2.9 lakh in foreign donations in violation to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

According to the agency, SCPPL was not registered under FCRA for collecting money from abroad and the amount of nearly Rs 1.8 crore ($2.9 lakh) was, therefore, received in violation to the Act as the organisation needed to seek a prior approval from the Union Home Ministry. Setalvad and her husband, through their lawyer, had told the court that they were innocent and were falsely implicated. Her advocate Mihir Desai told the court that the only reason why the agency wanted to arrest them is to humiliate them for their work in Gujarat.

However, CBI had in  its reply, last Friday, said that motive behind the transfer of foreign contribution to SCPPL reflected interference towards the internal security and activities of India. “Such act of foreign donor would prejudicially affect the security, strategic, scientific and economic interest of the state and also affect the harmony between religious, social, linguistic or regional groups, castes or communities,” the CBI had said, while opposing her plea.

Meanwhile, a set of eminent people have also expressed shock over the rejection of Setalvad’s anticipatory bail plea. The alleged FCRA violation of which the CBI has charged them with does not at all warrant arrest, especially when they are co-operating with the agency, they said.