A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia asked Setalvad to surrender her passport with trial court till the time the Gujarat High Court decides her regular bail plea.

The top court also asked Setalvad to cooperate with the probe agency in the investigation of the case of alleged fabrication of evidence to frame people in riots cases.

Appellant, a lady has been in custody since June 25. The offences alleged against her pertain to year 2002 and going by assertions, at best the concerned documents date to 2012. The investigating machinery has had the advantage of her custodial interrogation of seven days followed by judicial custody, the bench said while granting interim bail to Setalvad.

Referring to the sequence of events of the case, the bench said the high court, while issuing the notice to the state government on the regular bail petition, should have considered the plea for grant of interim bail to her.

The essential ingredient of custodial interrogation being completed, the matter of interim bail should have been heard,” it said, adding Setalvad was in police custody for seven days. The bench said since the high court is seized of the matter, it was not considering the regular bail petition.

We are only on during the pendency of such application, should the custody of appellant be insisted upon or be granted interim bail. We grant Teesta Setalvad interim bail, it said.

The top court had on Thursday wanted to know the reason for the delayed listing of Setalvad’s bail plea by the Gujarat High Court, wondering whether “this lady has been made an exception”.

It wondered why the high court listed the bail prayer for hearing on September 19, six weeks after it sent a notice to the state government seeking a response to her application.

Referring to the case against Setalvad, which was registered days after the June 24 verdict of the apex court in the Zakia Jafri case, the bench said, Today as the case stands, the FIR is nothing but whatever has happened in the (supreme) court (judgement).

The bench was apparently referring to the verdict by the apex court bench led by Justice (since retired) AM Khanwilkar who had blamed the petitioners in the Zakia Zafri case for “keeping the pot boiling” and showing the “audacity” to question the integrity of the Special Investigation Team, and observed that “all those involved in such abuse of process need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law”.

Setalvad was arrested on June 25, a day after the verdict was pronounced.

The Gujarat High Court had on August 3 issued a notice to the state government on the bail plea of Setalvad and fixed the matter for hearing on September 19.

The 2002 Gujarat riots were triggered by the torching of a coach of Sabarmati Express by a mob near Godhra station on February 27 that year.

Fifty-nine passengers, mostly Hindu Karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, were charred to death in the incident.

An Ahmedabad sessions court had on July 30 rejected the bail applications of Setalvad and former Gujarat Director General of Police R B Sreekumar in the case, saying their release will send a message to wrongdoers that a person can level allegations with impunity and get away with it.

Setalvad and Sreekumar have been accused of fabricating evidence to frame “innocent people” in the post-Godhra riots cases.

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After spending so many days in Bhaykhala jail actor Rhea Chakraborty has been granted bail  over drugs-related charges in the Sushant Singh Rajput case from Bombay high court .

A special court  had yesterday extended their judicial custody till October 20 but HC granted bail to RHEA although court  rejected her brother shauvik bail application .

Rhea Chakraborty was arrested on September 8 by the Narcotics Control Bureau on charges of organizing drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput, a popular movie star who was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14. She was accused of being “an active member of a drugs syndicate” and financing drugs bought for Sushant Singh Rajput, her boyfriend.

In her bail petition, Rhea Chakraborty alleged that Sushant Singh Rajput “took advantage of those closest to him to sustain his drug habit” and that she and her brother are sole targets of a witch-hunt.

She said he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and his family abandoned him at the peak of his depression. His mental health “deteriorated during the lockdown”, she claimed, adding that the deaths of actors Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor also had a tremendous impact on him.

Sushant Singh was “extremely happy after being offered ₹ 14 crore for a movie”, she said, alleging that the actor was disturbed over a rift with his family, especially his father.

Rhea Chakraborty also argued that the charges against her are too severe compared to the quantity of the drugs involved. She accused the drugs probe agency of spinning a false narrative that she was involved in illegal drugs trafficking and “harboured offenders”.

The CBI is investigating the circumstances of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death and the Enforcement Directorate is looking into financial allegations raised by the actor’s father.

The Narcotics Control Bureau stepped into the Sushant Singh Rajput investigations when WhatsApp chats retrieved from Rhea Chakraborty’s phone revealed alleged conversations involving the procuring of drugs.

Several top actors have been questioned by the anti-drugs bureau in a widening probe into drugs and the film industry.

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On December 15, Sunday, Payal Rohatgi was detained in Rajasthan by the Bundi police for her alleged explosive comments against the former Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Confirming the arrest, SP Mamta Gupta told, “Payal Rohatgi has been detained. Case registered.”

The Rajasthan Police on Sunday morning detained Bollywood actress Payal Rohatgi from her Ahmedabad residence for interrogation in a case relating to objectionable content against the Nehru-Gandhi family on social media.

The actress was booked by the Bundi police under the IT Act on October 10 for the objectionable content against Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and other members of the family.

She was served a notice earlier this month and told to furnish a reply in this connection.

SP Mamta Gupta told the actress was not cooperating in investigation, a police team was bringing her to Bundi.

State Youth Congress general secretary and a resident of Bundi, Charmesh Sharma, had submitted a complaint along with copies of the offensive content after which a case was registered against the actress.
Rohatgi on her social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, had posted the objectionable content on September 6 and 21.

Sharma had alleged in the complaint against the actress that the objectionable content tarnished the image of the country and spread vulgarity, religious hatred besides disgracing a woman’s character.

Earlier this month, the actress on Twitter had alleged that the Rajasthan chief minister was acting against her under pressure from the Gandhi family.

The actress had claimed that she had a “recording” of people referring to the pressure.

The statement had come after the Bundi Sadar police here sent notice to her in connection with the case and sought a reply for uploading the offensive content against the Nehru-Gandhi family.

“It has come to my mind that offices of Sonia Gandhi ji and Priyanka Gandhi are pressuring the chief minister of Rajasthan to go ahead with the FIR against me for making a video on Motilal Nehru,” Payal had alleged on Twitter.

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