HC rejects Teesta’s plea on de-freezing bank accounts

The Gujarat high court on Wednesday rejected the pleas of social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand on de-freezing their personal bank accounts and those of their two NGOs in an alleged embezzlement case.

Upholding the verdict of a lower court, the court observed that the probe is at a serious point in the alleged case of Gulberg society fund embezzlement. “What is important is not the <g data-gr-id="22">money</g> but the alleged criminal act related to the money. In this case, the execution of bond is not a justifiable solution when the investigation is at a serious point,” Justice GR <g data-gr-id="17">Udhvani</g> said in the order.

“This court records its inability to find any substance in the application (of Setalvad and others), and therefore, the decision of a lower court is just and proper and requires no interference (by the high court). Hence, the petitions are dismissed,” the court said. “According to the court, it is premature to consider as to if the accounts are to be de-freezed at this stage, and therefore, no question of the execution of bond arises at this stage,” it said.

The bank accounts of Setalvad, Anand and their NGOs – Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace – was frozen by the police last year soon after it started probing a case, in which Setalvad and others are accused of embezzling Rs 1.51 crore collected to convert Gulberg Society – where 69 people were killed during the post-Godhra riots – into a 2002 riots museum.