Activist Teesta Setalvad was granted bail in the conspiracy case lodged against her for allegedly defaming the State of Gujarat and the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi for their handling of the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The Court said that the High Court had turned down the bail of Setalvad on the ground that she did not challenge the chargesheet under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) or articles 226 or 32 of the Indian Constitution and hence was not able to claim that prima facie case was not present.
The Court while setting aside the high court’s order noted that if the High Court’s reasoning isto be accepted, then no bail plea can be decided pre trial without challenging the chargesheet under Articles 226 or 32 of the Constitution or Section 482 of CrPC.
While questioning the need of her custody, the Court noted that she was never called for probe after the grant of interim bail and that Setalvad can influence the witnesses but there is no possibility of tampering with the evidence because it was all on record and most of the evidences were documentary
Raghav Sharma, SLCU, Bangalore intern under legal vidhiya
