A court in Ahmedabad on Thursday reserved its order on the bail applications of social activist Teesta Setalvad and former Director General of Police R.B. Sreekumar in connection with a case filed by the Ahmedabad Police regarding forgery and fabrication of evidence related to the 2002 riots cases.
Both were arrested on June 25 in a case of conspiring to destabilise the Gujarat government in 2002 and defame the State.
During the course of hearing, the prosecution, while opposing the bail applications, submitted that all three — Ms. Setalvad, Mr. Sreekumar and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt — had used Zakia Jafri, wife of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri, in filing petitions against the State government to target the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Moreover, the prosecution also submitted documents before the court stating that the activist had fabricated documents to defame the State.
According to the prosecution, Ms. Setalvad had submitted false affidavits before the court in the past. She had prepared affidavits of riot victims in English and got them signed and submitted before various courts and other places. She had even created false witnesses against the State.
Rejecting the charges, both Ms. Setalvad and Mr. Sreekumar had submitted that they were innocent and had not committed any offence as stated in the FIR or the reply submitted by the prosecution.
Both denied all charges levelled by the police in the FIR.
