Skip to main content

In a "huge" victory, human rights leader Teesta Setalvad granted anticipatory bail

By A Representative
The Gujarat High Court has granted anticipatory bail to top human rights leader and Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) secretary Teesta Setalvad, and her partner and CJP office bearer Javed Anand, in connection with a case of alleged misappropriation of funds obtained by her education programme KHOJ.
Based on a complaint filed by a former CJP employee, the Gujarat police alleged misuse of funds received for education related activities for KHOJ project under ‘the Scheme for assistance for experimental and innovative programme for education at the elementary stage includes non-formal education’ linked to Department of School Education and the Sarva Sikhsah Abhiyan.
Calling it a huge victory, CJP said, the complaint "falsely states that funds were used for personal reasons, and to create and distribute printed materials that could cause communal disharmony, the polar opposite of the purpose and outcomes of KHOJ."
CJP statement claimed, "Both activists have cooperated fully with investigations ever since the allegations were first made in March 2018, producing all necessary evidence to prove the falsity of the claim. However, a vindictive state continued to push for custody in a bid to imprison and even possibly torture Teesta and Javed, in their relentless attempt to silence these fearless human rights defenders."
It added, "After exposing the criminal activities of a section of the Gujarat Police and of powerful politicians during the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat, CJP has been attacked time and time again. But we never allowed this hurdle to stop us from surging forth in our quest for justice."

Comments

Post a Comment

NOTE: While there is no bar on viewpoint, comments containing hateful or abusive language will not be published and will be marked spam. -- Editor

TRENDING

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.
Post a Comment
»

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”
Post a Comment
»

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.
Post a Comment
»