Teesta Setalvad may face jail again as Gujarat High Court on Saturday has rejected the regular bail plea. She was protected from arrest so far due to the interim bail that had been granted to her by the top court in September last year, following her first arrest in fabrication of the evidence in 2002 Gujarat riots.Gujarat High Court rejects regular bail plea of Teesta Setalvad, directs her to surrender immediately in a case pertaining to alleged fabrication of evidence to frame innocent people in 2002 post-Godhra riots cases— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 1, 2023Notably, Teesta Setalvad got arrested on June 25, 2022, along with co-accused former IPS officer R B Sreekumar. The arrest order had come just a day after when the Supreme Court dismissed a plea against the clean chit to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others over allegations of conspiracy in the riots.Setalvad got released from Sabarmati Jail after she was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on September 3, while her regular bail was pending in Gujarat High Court and had been adjourned for six weeks.On Friday, June 30, Justice Nirzar Desai of the Gujarat High Court rejected the activists attorney Mihir Thakores request to have the judgement delayed for a period of 30 days so that they might appeal to the Supreme Court.It is noteworthy that, six years after the riots, the Supreme Court established a Special Investigation Team to look into the violence because she was one of the first campaigners to take up the causes of the riot victims.According to a source close to her, Setalvad was already working on human rights issues through her NGO Sabrang Trust, situated in Mumbai, around the time of the Gujarat riots. She visited Gujarat, interacted with the victims, and made the decision to pursue their cases.
