On Wednesday (June 15), the Gujarat government submitted before the Gujarat High Court that ‘activist’ Teesta Setalvad served as a ‘tool’ in the hands of politicians to defame the Modi government after the 2002 Gujarat riots. It added that she was paid Rs 30 lakh by the former Congress leader Ahmed Patel to unseat the then Narendra Modi government in Gujarat following the 2002 riots.
The statement was made while the state government opposed the bail application of Setalvad who is accused of fabrication of evidence in the 2002 Gujarat riots case. The State’s prosecution, represented by Public Prosecutor Mitesh Amin, highlighted her potential to tamper with evidence in the case related to the 2002 riots, as he strongly opposed her bail plea
BIG BREAKING: Prosecution in the 2002 Gujarat riots case tells Gujarat HC that Congress leader Ahmed Patel had paid ₹30 lakhs to Teesta Setalvad, Sanjiv Bhatt & RB Sreekumar to hatch a ‘larger conspiracy’ behind the riots to pin the blame on the State Government at the time. pic.twitter.com/YhVAviS7tO
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Referring to the deceased Congress leader Ahmed Patel, Mitesh Amin, also submitted before the court of Justice Nirzar Desai that Teesta Setalvad was a “tool in the hands of certain politicians of certain political party.”
Mitesh Amin asserted that Setalvad had used two police officers, namely retired DGP RB Sreekumar and her co-accused former IPS Sanjiv Bhatt, as “tools” in order to “see (to it) that the existing establishment (in 2002, when Gujarat CM was Narendra Modi) is unseated, faces problems, and their image in the society is tarnished.”
Amin claimed that Ahmed Patel gave Rs 30 lakh to Setalvad in order to implicate and depose the then-establishment during the 2002 Gujarat riots. He continued by saying that after the money began to flow, a stage came where FIRs were filed against specific individuals, but it didn’t matter to Setalvad whether they were tried or punished.
“What was the motive for them was to see that the establishment of that time gets unseated. Pursuant to this, they were in search of a complainant who could be the complainant to propagate this. So ultimately, the first choice fell upon the father of the deceased Haren Pandya, namely Vithalbhai Pandya, who was aggrieved for reasons best known to him, against the highest functionary of the state (then CM Modi).” submitted the prosecution.
The prosecution will continue its arguments on Thursday.
Plotted for death sentence to Narendra Modi – SIT chargesheet
It may be recalled that the Special Investigation Team, probing allegations of fabrication of evidence in the Gujarat riot case had filed a 100-page chargesheet against ‘activist’ Teesta Setalvad, RB Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt in the year 2022 in which it highlighted how Teesta Setalvad plotted to ensure death sentence for then-CM Narendra Modi in Gujarat Riots case.
The charge sheet noted that the riot victims were manipulated, and they were forced to sign the fabricated statements.
The SIT also highlighted how Teesta Setalvad had used funds collected in the name of riots for personal use.
The arrest of Teesta Setalvad in fabricated evidence case linked to Gujarat Riots 2002
Teesta Setalvad, the self-proclaimed ‘activist’ was arrested by the Gujarat ATS in June 2022 in a case of forgery, influencing witnesses, and the investigation of the Gujarat riots in 2002 that occurred in the aftermath of the Godhra Train burning incident, when 59 Hindus were burned to death after a Muslim mob set ablaze a Sabarmati Express bogey carrying passengers from Ayodhya. Teesta Setalvad is accused of coaching witnesses and making ridiculous accusations in several cases related to the Gujarat riots in 2002.
The case against Setalvad was filed after the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Modi in the 2002 Gujarat Riots case. Teesta was granted bail on September 2 by the Supreme Court.
