SC allows Teesta Setalvad to travel to Amsterdam for film festival

The Supreme Court on Tuesday permitted activist Teesta Setalvad to travel between November 14 and November 24 to attend the International Documentary Film Festival in AmsterdamSetalvad had received an invitation from the organisers to attend the festival in her capacity as producer of the documentary film Cycle MaheshA bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan allowed the plea filed by SetalvadThe apex court had in July 2023 granted her regular bail in a case of alleged fabrication of documents to frame innocent people in the 2002 postGodhra riot casesDuring the hearing on Tuesday senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for Setalvad said she had filed an application seeking permission to travel abroad as the apex court had in July 2023 directed for her passport to be in the custody of the sessions courtMy documentary has been awarded in Amsterdam I Setalvad am seeking your lordships permission to go to Amsterdam from November 14 to November 24 he informed the benchSolicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Gujarat government did not object to the applicationThe bench said the same conditions as the ones imposed in August would apply on Setalvad when her plea to travel to Malaysia was allowedThe top court had on August 20 allowed Setalvad to travel to Malaysia for a conference while directing for her passport to be returned to herThe petitioner Setalvad shall file an undertaking before this court that she will return to India as scheduled and face the trial the bench said adding she will have to furnish a solvent surety of Rs 10 lakh to the sessions courts satisfactionUpon her return from Malaysia Setalvad shall resurrender her passport with the trial judge the court had said furtherOn July 19 2023 the apex court quashed the July 1 order of the Gujarat High Court which had denied bail to Setalvad in the caseIt had said that Setalvads passport which she had already surrendered shall continue to be in the custody of the sessions court and she would not make any attempt to influence the witnesses and stay away from themThe top court had noted the submissions of Setalvads counsel that the FIR against her was lodged following a judgment by the apex court on June 24 2022 in the case of Zakia Jafri who had alleged a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 communal riots and challenged the high courts October 5 2017 order rejecting her petition against the finding of the Supreme Courtappointed special investigation teamJafri is the widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was among those killed at the Gulberg Housing Society during the communal riotsSetalvad was arrested a day after the apex courts judgment in the Zakia Jafri caseThe FIR against Setalvad and two others former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and former DGP R B Sreekumar followed the apex courts observation that some people kept the pot boiling of the case for ulterior design and all those involved in such abuse of process need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with the lawThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever