Gandhinagar: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has filed an affidavit in regards to a bail application filed by secretary of NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace, Teesta Setalvad, and former IPS officer, R B Sreekumar in a case of defaming Gujarat as a state in the aftermath of the 2002 Post Godhra communal riots.

In the affidavit, the SIT has alleged that Teesta along with the other accused had hatched a big conspiracy with malafide intent and in order to profit politically as well as financially by misusing the legal process. Teesta held meetings with Congress leader, the late Ahmed Patel, and accepted Rs 5 lakh in the first meeting and Rs 25 lakh in the second.

The affidavit accuses Teesta and her accomplices had with the blessings of then Congress-led central government hatched an elaborate conspiracy to implicate then chief minister Narendra Modi, other top leaders of the BJP, and to defame Gujarat state. Making these allegations, the affidavit argues that this is a serious case of conspiracy because of which the court must dismiss the bail application of both the accused.

The public prosecutors, Mitesh Amin and Amit Patel, told the court while submitting the affidavit to the court that the FIRs against Teesta Setalvad and R B Sreekumar were filed as per the directive of the Supreme Court.

According to the public prosecutors, the accused used the petition of Zakia Jafri, the various petitions filed in various courts, and forged documents before various commissions as evidence to try and implicate innocent people like then chief minister Narendra Modi in a malafide way so as to keep the issue burning and defame Gujarat state. The accused had hatched this larger conspiracy in order to derive monetary and other such benefits illegally, which has been confirmed by the statements given by two witnesses.

According to the statement given by the witnesses, Teesta Setalvad had hatched this conspiracy along with other accused on behalf of then Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP, the late Ahmed Patel. As part of this big conspiracy, Teesta Setalvad had held a meeting with Ahmed Patel and received Rs 5 lakh as funds in the first phase.

Another meeting was held two days later between Teesta Setalvad and Patel at the Shahibaug circuit house during which the second witness handed over Rs 25 lakh to her as per the instructions of the former.

According to another witness, he and Teesta Setalvad came to Ahmedabad within the first week after the riots happened and visited relief camps and the affected areas. Teesta had held meeting with people holding political offices. At that time, Teesta had held a meeting with Sanjiv Bhatt and R B Sreekumar despite their having no role to play in the rescue and relief operations.

The witnesses have also revealed that Teesta and the other accused held a secret meeting with late Ahmed Patel at his residence in New Delhi four months after the riots. Teesta and Sanjiv Bhatt used to meet with the intention of raising funds in the name of riot-affected victims.

Even the evidence gathered by the investigating officer indicates that the accused held several meeting with politicians, and in one such meeting with the leaders of a key political party then in power at the centre, Teesta had discussed ways of implicating top functionaries of the BJP government in the state in the riot cases.

Funds collected by exhibiting photographs of riot victims used to tarnish image of Gujarat

• The accused had stated that the state’s BJP government will have to resign within 3 days at the time of the visit of the spot during the Pandarvada Human Skeleton case by the accused along with the witness
• This witness and an unknown political leader disclosed during an interaction that the accused had revealed that she also harbored political ambitions. She said you are giving chance to the husband wife duo of Javed and Shabana …why don’t you make me a Rajya Sabha member.
• As a benefit for the conspiracy hatched to implicate innocent people who had no role to play in the riots and to drag them into prosecution-litigations, Teesta was honored with the Padma Shri in 2007.
• A press photographer had clicked a picture of one Kutubuddin Ansari on 1-3-2002. Ansari was approached by field convenor of Teesta’s NGO Citizen for Justice and Peace, Raiskhan Pathan, and on the orders of Teesta took Ansari and his family first to Mumbai and then Kolkata, where he was produced in front of several media channels.
• These photographs and interviews were not used merely to raise funds but also to tarnish the image of Gujarat as a state.
• The political and monetary motives of the accused also comes clear from the email messages forwarded by the Gujarat government in April-May 2011 when Sanjiv Bhatt and the others had exchanged emails.
• For certain emails, it can also be deduced that the then top leadership of the Congress party was in touch with Sanjiv Bhatt. Bhatt had also held meetings with the senior leaders of the Congress party. Teesta Setalvad had also tutored Sanjiv Bhatt ahead of his testifying in the Nanavati Commission.
•  After the assassination of home minister Haren Pandya, his father Vitthalbhai had given a statement that then chief minister was behind the killing. Teesta had gotten in touch with Vitthalbhai after he gave this statement and urged him to join her NGO.
• That Vitthalbhai was taken to Mumbai to meet Teesta has also come to light.
• Vitthalbhai’s complaint was drafted in the office of Teesta’s lawyer, Sohail Tirmiji.
• When Vitthalbhai was called to Tirmiji’s office to sign the drafted complaint, he refused to sign because  allegations against certain innocent individuals too had been added in the draft.
• Between 2009-2011, Teesta’s NGO received Rs 63 lakh as funds, which was deposited in the NGO’s bank account with IDBI Bank.
• The fund of Rs 88 lakh received between 2008 and 2011 in an account in the  name of Sabrang Trust in Union Bank.
• During cross examination, Zakia Jafri has herself said that she and the other witnesses were being tutored by Teesta and Sreekumar.