INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
AHMEDABAD: The state government on Wednesday opposed the bail application filed by social activist Teesta Setalvad, who is facing charges of
trying to frame PM Narendra Modi and others by propagating a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 riots and termed her a politician's tool
tasked with defaming Gujarat
Objecting to the bail plea, public prosecutor Mitesh Amin submitted, "The petitioner with her two tools - police officers R B Sreekumar and
Sanjiv Bhatt - together hatched the conspiracy to propagate the larger conspiracy aspect
She was also a tool in the hands of a politician of a political party." To substantiate his claims, the prosecutor cited testimony of
witnesses including Setalvad's close aide Rais Khan, who fell apart with her later in 2008
He described how Setalvad had met Congress leader Ahmed Patel at the circuit house in Ahmedabad, where the politician allegedly told her to
ensure that people get punished and "so and so person" goes behind the bars
"There are so many IPS officers who work for us
You have met Sanjiv Bhatt, and you will soon meet others as well," the prosecutor read Khan's statement.In support of the assertion made
in the chargesheet that Setalvad had received Rs 30 lakh from the Congress leader, the prosecutor quoted recorded statements of Khan and
Narendra Brahmbhatt, who made the payment to Setalvad at Patel's behest
He also alleged that Setalvad's efforts were to tarnish Modi's image "to unseat the establishment"
Advocate Amin read out the observations made by the Supreme Court in its order on Zakia Jafri's appeal and submitted that the entire case
was handled by her to establish a larger conspiracy behind the riots
It was also argued that Setalvad's first choice to fire a salvo against Modi was former home minister Haren Pandya's father Vitthalbhai
Pandya, but the latter did not agree on making allegations against other persons who had nothing to do with the riots
"Then, the choice fell upon Mrs Jafri, again a tool, and she filed a complaint against more than 60 persons," the prosecutor submitted.The
prosecutor also cited statements of Best Bakery case witness Zaheera Sheikh's sister-in-law, Yasminbanu, and another witness Kutubuddin
Ansari, to buttress his argument about Setalvad's efforts to use witnesses for her agenda
Yasminbanu had described an incident where Zaheera was once about to assault Setalvad and had shouted at her for siphoning off funds
collected for their welfare
He told the court that Setalvad has the potential to tamper with evidence and letting her off would jeopardize public interest
The court is to hear further arguments on Thursday
Earlier, for Setalvad, senior advocate Mihir Thakore submitted that she has been wrongly framed and most documentary evidence relied upon by
investigators were court documents, on which FIR could not have been lodged, whereas the issue was squarely dealt with by the special courts
and the high court on Rais Khan's applications before various courts.
