Supreme Court Permits Teesta Setalvad To Travel To Malaysia For Anti-Racism Conference
The Supreme Court today (on August 20) has permitted human rights activist Teesta Setalvad to travel to Selangor, Malaysia from August 31 to September 10. The purpose of this travel is to attend a conference pertaining to anti-racism.
The Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and KV Viswanathan granted the permission subject to two conditions. First, an undertaking to be filed by her stating that Setalvad will return after the aforesaid period. Second, a solvent security of Rs 10 lakh is also required. Apart from this, the passport shall be returned after the conference ends.
To recall, back in the year 2023, Setalvad was granted regular bail in the Gujarat police case over the alleged fabrication of evidence in the 2002 riots cases. A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, AS Bopanna and Dipankar Datta quashed the Gujarat High Court's order which denied her regular bail.
One of the conditions imposed for bail was that Setalvad's passport would continue to be in the custody of the Sessions Court.
In the present application, Setalvad has argued that she has received an invitation as a Panellist for the Anti-Racism National '12th National Conference On Non- Discrimination' organised by Pusat KOMAS. The application was opposed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on behalf of the Gujarat Police.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and Advocate-on-Record Mr. Abhimanue Shrestha appeared for Setalvad.
Case Details: TEESTA ATUL SETALVAD vs. THE STATE OF GUJARAT v. Diary No. - 35856/2024