SC grants interim bail to activist Setalvad

One-liner: The SC on Friday granted interim bail to social activist Teesta Setalvad, arrested on June 25 for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in the 2002 Gujarat riots cases.

Direction: A bench asked Setalvad to surrender her passport to the trial court till the time the Gujarat HC decides on her regular bail plea and asked her to cooperate with the probe agency in the investigation of the case.

What the bench said: Referring to the sequence of events of the case, the bench said the HC, while issuing the notice to the state on the regular bail petition, should have considered the plea for grant of interim bail to her.

Why the delay: The top court had on Thursday wanted to know the reason for the delayed listing of Setalvad's bail plea by the Gujarat HC.

• It wondered why the HC listed the bail prayer for hearing on Sept 19, six weeks after it sent a notice to the state govt seeking a response to her application 

Flashback: The 2002 Gujarat riots were triggered by the torching of a coach of Sabarmati Express by a mob near Godhra station on Feb 27 that year. Fifty-nine passengers, mostly Hindu Karsevaks, returning from Ayodhya, were charred to death in the incident.

Source: PTI