Gujarat High Court reserves order on Teesta’s anticipatory bail plea

Ahmedabad

The Gujarat High Court today reserved its order after conclusion of the hearing on the anticipatory bail petitions of controversial activists Teesta Setalwad, her husband Javed Anand and others in a case related to alleged embezzlement of funds.

Justice J B Pardiwala reserved the order on the bail petitions filed by Setalwad, Anand, Tanvir Jafri (whose father Ehsan Jafri, former Congress MP, was killed during the riots) and Firoz Gulzar, a resident of Gulberg Society here.

They are accused of misusing funds to the tune of Rs 1.51 crore.

Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, who appeared for the prosecution, today put before the court the statements of Setalwad’s former accountant Rais Khan who accused her and others of misusing the funds meant for the families of Gulberg Society riot victims.

Setalwad, who has been espousing the cause of the victims of 2002 Gujarat riots, and others, have contended that the case was filed against them with political motives and they had not misused the funds.

On March 25, last year, the sessions court had rejected their pre-arrest bail applications.

The crime branch had registered a first information report last January against Setalvad and others for allegedly usurping the money collected by them for building a riots museum at the Society. The plan to build a museum was cancelled later.

Twelve residents of the Society had alleged that Setalvad embezzled the funds.

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