Gujarat police allegation against Teesta Setalvad about embezzlement of funds is "malicious": CJP

By A Representative
Trustees of the Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), fighting a crucial battle against Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s alleged complicity in 2002 riots, have condemned what they call “malicious lies" being spread by the Gujarat government in "misleading" courts of law about the CJP ‘cheating’ victims of the riots. The statement is in response to the Gujarat police, which told the Bombay high court, opposing the petition filed by social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband seeking quashing of an FIR against them for alleged misappropriation of funds, that the duo had indeed cheated victims of 2002 Godhra riots and "embezzled funds" in their name. Prosecution probing "embezzlement" Ajay Choksi simultaneously told the sessions court in Ahmedabad that Setalvad should be "quizzed" in custody to set an example (click HERE).
Signed by IM Kadri, Nandan Maluste, Teesta Setalvad, Cyrus Guzder, Javed Akhtar, Alyque Padamsee, Anil Dharker, Ghulam Pesh Imam, Javed Anand, Rahul Bose and Father Cedric Prakash, the statement has said the nexus at work against Setelvad consists of “Gujarat government headed by Modi, its crime branch headed by powerful policemen who have been collaborators of the regime since 2002, and Rais Khan Pathan, a former employee of the CJP, who is being used as a proxy in this malicious war”.
“Earlier, too, Khan was aided in his malicious efforts by senior legal functionaries, who are politically with the Gujarat government. He has now been cited as witness by the crime branch, Ahmedabad.” Saying that the timing of the FIR filed against Setalvad is “revealing”, the statement adds, “A cooked up case has obviously been raked up to prevent an appeal in the Zakia Jafri v/s Narendra Modi criminal case.”
“Tanvir Jafri, son of Zakia Jafri and the late Ahsan Jafri has also been made a co-accused in the criminal complaint, which a further sign of rank intimidation”, the statement says, wondering, why was the Gujarat government afraid of the higher courts.

Already, the statement said, Setalvad has filed an affidavit in the sessions court in Ahmedabad, pointing out the gaping holes in the affidavit earlier filed by the crime branch of the Ahmedabad police in the same courts with “bogus, false and mindless accusations against them for embezzling funds.” Main points of the affidavit include:

The crime branch has concealed the fact that while Rais Khan, a disgruntled ex-employee of CJP, till December 2007, was paid a total salary of Rs. 9,63,500, was provided free housing and a vehicle. Setalvad (who functioned as chief executive) neither asked for, nor received a single rupee as salary from the organisation between April 2002 (when CJP was founded and December 2009 (nearly eight years). Nor is there any mention of the fact that unlike Rais Khan, she neither asked for nor received any accommodation allowance.
The crime branch has aggregated all the donations and grants received by CJP and Sabrang Trust and claimed that the entire amount was collected for the sole purpose of proposed Gulberg Memorial. The fact is, while Sabrang Trust has in total received approximately Rs 4.5 lakh only earmarked by donors for the memorial, CJP did not receive a single rupee for the same.
It is total falsehood that around Rs 2.62 crore was collected by Sabrang Trust between April 10, 2007 and February 20, 2014 for the museum. A table contained in Setalvad’s affidavit where the purpose for which the foreign contributions were strictly to be used were clearly specified by the donors is clearly spelt out. It is evident that only around Rs 4.5 lakh in all was earmarked by the donors for the Gulberg Memorial.
It is also evident from the table that the total foreign contributions received by Sabrang Trust totaled around Rs 1.33 crore and not Rs 2.62, as claimed by the crime branch. The highly exaggerated figure is the result of a simple accounting subterfuge: Of the total of Rs 1.33 crore received over the relevant period, a total of Rs 1.21 crore were transferred from the trust’s savings a/c to term deposits in the same bank with a view to earning extra interest income for the trust. On maturity the same deposits along with interest totaling around Rs 1.26 crore were credited back into the savings account.
It has been alleged that Setalvad got over Rs 21.6 lakh from Sabrang Trust between October 1, 2009 and June 30, 2013. Similarly, it has been alleged that Javed Anand received over Rs 20 lakh from Sabrang Trust during the same period. They were not paid this or even part of this amount in their capacity as trustees of Sabrang Trust. They were paid these amounts (averaging to Rs. 48,000 per month in case of Setalvad and around 47,700 per month in case of Javed Anand) for discharging their duties as project director and project administrator.
It has been alleged that over a six year period (between April 12, 2007 and June 4, 2013 a total of only Rs 2,49,000 was spent on legal aid from the non-FCRA account of CJP. This is purely a figment of the crime branch’s twisted imagination. A detailed year-by-year account provided by Setalvad shows that CJP spent a total of over Rs 2 crore (100 times the crime branch’s figure) on legal aid.

Comments

The silencing of conscience: Ideological attacks on India’s judiciary and free thought

By Sunil Kumar* “Volunteers will pick up sticks to remove every obstacle that comes in the way of Sanatan and saints’ work.” — RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (November 6, 2024, Chitrakoot) Eleven months later, on October 6, 2025, a man who threw a shoe inside the Supreme Court shouted, “India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan.” This incident was not an isolated act but a continuation of a pattern seen over the past decade—attacks on intellectuals, writers, activists, and journalists, sometimes in the name of institutions, sometimes by individual actors or organizations.

'Violation of Apex Court order': Delhi authorities blamed for dog-bite incidents at JLN Stadium

By A Representative People for Animals (PFA), led by Ms. Ambika Shukla, has held the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) responsible for the recent dog-bite incidents at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, accusing it of violating Supreme Court directions regarding community dogs. The organisation’s on-ground fact-finding mission met stadium authorities and the two affected coaches to verify details surrounding the incidents, both of which occurred on October 3.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Citizens’ group to recall Justice Chagla’s alarm as India faces ‘undeclared' Emergency

By A Representative In a move likely to raise eyebrows among the powers-that-be, a voluntary organisation founded during the “dark days” of the Indira Gandhi -imposed Emergency has announced that it will hold a public conference in Ahmedabad to highlight what its office-bearers call today’s “undeclared Emergency.”

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

From seed to soil: How transnational control is endangering food sovereignty

By Bharat Dogra In recent decades, the world has witnessed a steady erosion of plant diversity in many countries, particularly those in the Global South that were once richly endowed with natural plant wealth. Much of this diversity has been removed from its original ecological and cultural contexts and transferred into gene banks concentrated in developed nations. While conservation of genetic resources is important, the problem arises when access to these collections becomes unequal, particularly when they fall under the control of transnational corporations.

Counterview

Search This Blog