A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Saturday stayed for a week a Gujarat High Court judgment directing activist Teesta Setalvad to surrender immediately in a forgery case linked to the 2002 riots.
The reprieve for Ms. Setalvad came on the same day after a Single Judge Bench of the Gujarat High Court dismissed her plea for regular bail and refused to give her 30 days to surrender.
Hours after the High Court order, Ms. Setalvad had applied to the Supreme Court for interim protection from immediate arrest. However, a Division Bench of Justices A.S. Oka and P.K. Mishra could not reach a consensus even at 7 p.m. and referred the case back to the Chief Justice of India to be listed before a larger Bench.
