PROTEST: There have been nationwide protests against the arrest of Teesta Setalvad on the orders of Home Minister Amit Shah.

By Livemint

Within 24 hours of the Supreme Court judgement giving a clean chit to Narendra Modi in the post-Godhra killings of Muslims in Gujarat, human rights activist, Teesta Setalvad, was arrested. She represented the wife of the Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed during the systematic targeting of the Muslim community in Ahmedabad.

This came hours after Union home minister Amit Shah said that Setalvad-run NGO gave baseless information about the Gujarat riots
The Gujarat ATS on Saturday detained activist Teesta Setalvad from her residence in Mumbai related to a foreign fund case on her NGO.
This came hours after Union home minister Amit Shah said that Setalvad-run NGO gave baseless information about the Gujarat riots.
“I have read the judgement very carefully. The judgement clearly mentions the name of Teesta Setalvad. The NGO that was run being run by her – I don’t remember the name of the NGO- had given baseless information about the riots to the police,” Amit Shah was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Shah was referring to the Supreme Court ruling which dismissed the plea filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and several others in 2002 Gujarat riots.
Setalvad was a co-petitioner.
While upholding the SIT clean chit, the SC on Friday said that Setalvad exploited the emotions of Jafri.
“All those involved in such abuse of process need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law,” said a three-judge bench of the apex court headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar, adding that the appeal was filed under “dictation of someone.”
“Antecedents of Teesta Setalvad need to be reckoned with and also because she has been vindictively persecuting this lis [dispute] for her ulterior design by exploiting the emotions and sentiments of Zakia Jafri, the real victim of the circumstances,” the top court said.
The case pertains to what came to be known as the Gulbarg Society incident, in which 68 people, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, were killed in the riots triggered by the burning of a train coach in which 59 people perished in February 2002
A decade later, the SIT report, exonerated Narendra Modi, citing “no prosecutable evidence” in the Gulbarg Society case.
On Friday, upholding the SIT clearance, the top court dismissed the petition filed by Zakia Jafri, saying that the plea was “to keep the pot boiling, obviously, for ulterior design.”
However, Tanvir Jafri, son of Ehsan Jafri, has said that he is disappointed by the SC’s verdict. “I am disappointed with the court verdict. Since I am out of the country, I will give a detailed statement after studying the judgement,” Tanvir was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Courtesy: Livemint