Gujarat HC notice to state govt on Teesta Setalvad’s plea seeking quashing of FIR

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the state government on a plea filed by social activist Teesta Setalvad seeking to quash an FIR registered against her by the city crime branch for allegedly fabricating evidence in 2002 riots cases.

The court of Justice J C Doshi issued notices to the state government and the investigating officer in the case, returnable on November 29. The court also issued a notice to the government on Setalvad’s plea for grant of interim relief by staying the ongoing trial in the case, also returnable on the same date. The court also directed the investigating officer to file a report about progress in the investigation, and permitted the petitioner to produce additional documents by way of an affidavit. A sessions court had rejected Setalvad’s discharge plea in the case, even as the Supreme Court granted her bail in July this year after the Gujarat High Court denied relief to her.

Setalvad and two others - former state Director General of Police R B Sreekumar and former Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt - were arrested by the city crime branch in June 2022 on charges of forgery and fabricating false evidence with the intent to implicate Gujarat government functionaries, including the then chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots cases.