New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday extended, till April 28, the interim bail granted to social activists Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand in the alleged misuse of funds collected by their NGO Sabrang Trust for setting up a museum at Gulbarga Society which witnessed one of the worst carnage during 2002 Gujarat riots.
Extending the interim protection, the bench of Justice Anil R. Dave, Justice Fakkir Mohammed Ibrahim Kalifulla and Justice V. Gopala Gowda also directed the registry of the court to place the matter before Chief Justice T.S.Thakur for its listing before a regular bench.
Setalvad and Anand were granted interim bail by the apex court on February 19, 2015, as it restrained the Gujarat Police from arresting them in the case. The couple had moved the apex court challenging the Gujarat High Court’s February 12 verdict declining them anticipatory bail in the alleged misuse of funds case.
On January 28, the court had extended the protection till March 18.
The court is also hearing a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which has challenged the August 11, 2015, Bombay High Court order granting anticipatory bail to the couple, holding that the documents being sought by the CBI relates to accounts and therefore it does not require custodial interrogation and both were unlikely to flee the country.
The apex court on December 1, 2015, had issued notice to the CBI on Setalvad’s plea also challenging that part of the Bombay High Court on August 11, 2015 verdict which said that they were in breach of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
Setalvad has contended that there was no basis for the high court to say so.
–IANS