New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday modified the condition of furnishing solvent surety of Rs 10 lakh imposed on activist Teesta Setalvad while permitting her to travel to Malaysia for 11 days for an anti-racism conference after her lawyer requested for the modification, saying it would take a long time.
Apex court on August 20 permitted Setalvad to travel to Malaysia for 11 days with conditions imposed on her
The top court had on August 20 permitted Setalvad to travel to Selangor, Malaysia from August 31 to September 10 for an anti-racism conference with conditions that included filing an undertaking before the apex court stating that she will return to India as scheduled and face the trial and shall furnish solvent surety in the sum of Rs 10 lakh to the satisfaction of the sessions court in Ahmedabad.
Setalvad’s counsel mentioned the matter before the top court for modification of the condition of providing solvent surety
Setalvad’s counsel on Thursday mentioned the matter before a bench comprising Justice BR Gavai, Justice PK Mishra and Justice KV Viswanathan for modification of the condition of providing solvent surety.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) KM Nataraj, appearing for Gujarat government, did not object to the modification sought by the counsel for Setalvad and said that sufficient condition be imposed to ensure her presence.
“We, therefore, modify the condition mentioned in paragraph no.6 of the said order (of August 20) and the same be replaced as under: The applicant (Setalvad) shall furnish solvent surety or cash surety or surety in the nature of fixed deposit receipt in the sum of Rs 10,00,000 to the satisfaction of the sessions court, Bhadra, Ahmedabad,” the top court bench said in its order while taking note of submissions made by ASG Natraj.
Setalvad’s counsel had told the apex court on August 20 that Setalvad has filed an application seeking permission to travel abroad as the top court had in July last year said that her passport shall continue to be in the custody of the sessions court.
The apex court, while permitting her to travel to Malaysia, had asked her to re-surrender her passport after her return to India to the trial court.
Setalvad was granted regular bail by apex court in July last year
The Supreme Court in July last year granted Setalvad regular bail in a case of allegedly implicating innocent persons and maligning senior functionaries of the state by fabricating documents in the 2002 Godhra riots.
FIR was registered against Setalvad, former IPS Sanjiv Bhatt and former DGP RB Sreekumar
The First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Setalvad, former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and former DGP RB Sreekumar following the observation of the apex court while dismissing the plea of Zakia Jafri, wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed during the riots, challenging the finding of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team.
The Gujarat High Court earlier refused to grant bail to Setalvad and had directed that her passport shall continue to be in the custody of the sessions court.
