Gujarat court refuses bail to Teesta, Sreekumar

Gujarat court refuses bail to Teesta, Sreekumar

Judge says they had ‘ulterior motives’ to ‘destabilise govt’

Ahmedabad: A sessions court here on Saturday rejected the bail applications of activist Teesta Setalvad and former Director General of Police R B Sreekumar, arrested for allegedly fabricating documents to `frame innocent people’ in 2002 riots cases.
The accused apparently aimed to “destabilise” the Gujarat government and defame the state for their ulterior motives, additional principal judge D D Thakkar said while denying them relief.
Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, a third accused in the case, had not applied for bail. Bhatt was already in jail in another case when he was arrested.
“It appears that the accused aimed to destabilise the government and tarnish the image of Gujarat within the country and abroad by using false documents to accuse the then government of having sponsored post-Godhra riots,” the sessions court said in the order.
“It appears that the two accused were actively interested in defaming the state of Gujarat for their ulterior motives as well as political aspirations,” and they did so for obtaining “personal goal and monetary benefit from one political faction as well as other countries,” the court said.
Setalvad and Sreekumar were arrested by the Ahmedabad city crime branch in June after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against them under Indian Penal Code sections 468 (forgery for cheating) and 194 (fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offences).
The arrests followed within a couple of days after the Supreme Court on June 24 dismissed a petition filed by Zakia Jafri, whose husband and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri had been killed during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Setalvad had helped Zakia Jafri pursue her legal battle. Both Setalvad and Sreekumar denied the allegations by Gujarat police in the present case.
PTI

 

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