New Delhi:
In fresh trouble for activist Teesta Setalvad, the Gujarat High Court has said it is “disinclined” to grant her relief in a mass grave excavation case linked to the 2002 riots in the state. The judge also orally observed: “Why should such dead horses are drawn?”
The court was hearing a petition filed by Ms. Setalvad seeking cancellation of the First Information Report (FIR) alleging her involvement in digging and exhuming 28 bodies of victims of post-Godhra riots at a mass cemetery near the village Pandarwada in Gujarat in 2005.
Hearing the petition on Monday, Justice Sandeep Bhatt verbally noted that he is not inclined to grant relief to Ms. Setalvad. “After going through the record, at first glance I'm not inclined,” he said.
The activist's lawyer replied, “The FIR has nothing. No insult has been committed. It is just political victimization.”
To this the judge said: “This is a broad word used today.”
A case of destruction of evidence and outrage over religious sentiments was filed after the bodies were exhumed. Those named included Rais Khan, who was associated with Ms. Setalvad's NGO, Citizens for Justice and Peace.
The activist's name was later revealed when she and Mr Khan had an argument and he told police the dig had been carried out on her behalf.
Ms Setalvad's lawyer argued that the bodies were exhumed because relatives of the victims claimed proper autopsies had not been carried out. The next hearing in the case is on January 9.
In July 2023, the activist was released on bail in a case in which she was accused of fabricating evidence in cases related to the 2002 riots.