2002 Gujarat riots: HC grants interim bail to ex-DGP RB Sreekumar

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday granted interim bail till November 15 to former state DGP RB Sreekumar arrested along with activist Teesta Setalvad for alleged fabrication of evidence in connection with the 2002 communal riots casesJustice Ilesh J Vora allowed Sreekumar in custody since his arrest by the city crime branch on June 25 to be enlarged on the interim bail till November 15 on a personal bond of Rs 10000Sreekumars counsel submitted that he may be granted the relief in view of his age and considering that the charge sheet has been filed He also told the high court that the applicant intends to file a fresh application before the trial court concernedThe HC was also hearing the regular bail plea of Teesta Setalvad another accused in the case of the alleged fabrication of evidenceHearing her bail plea the HC directed the trial court to hand over the papers of the charge sheet filed by the Special Investigation Team SIT on September 21 to Setalvads lawyer and kept the matter for further hearing on November 15Setalvad was released on interim bail by the Supreme Court on September 2Also Read Bombay High Court grants bail to J J Hospital doctor held in fatal car crashThe singlejudge bench directed Sreekumar to deposit his passport within a week of his release from jail He was also given the liberty to file a fresh bail application before the concerned courtOpposing the relief to Sreekumar the public prosecutor said considering the role attributed to him in the alleged offence no case is made out for granting interim bailA sessions court in Ahmedabad on July 30 rejected bail applications of Setalvad and Sreekumar who were arrested on June 25The SIT on September 21 filed a charge sheet against Setalvad Sreekumar and another accused in the case former IPS officer Sanjiv BhattBhatt continues to remain in jail at Palanpur in the Banaskantha district of Gujarat where he is serving a life sentence in a custodial death caseA case was registered against Setalvad Sreekumar and Bhatt under various sections of the Indian Penal Code IPC related to forgery besides sections 194 fabricating false evidence to procure capital offence 211 to institute criminal proceeding while knowing there is no just ground for it 218 public servant framing incorrect record and 120 B criminal conspiracyThe trio was accused of conspiracy to abuse the process of law by fabricating false evidence to make several persons to having committed an offence that is punishable with capital punishmentSetalvad was accused of trying to create false cases against the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi his cabinet colleagues and senior BJP leaders and conspiring to fabricate evidence against them to establish their involvement in the riot cases of February 28 2002 and othersThe FIR was registered against the trio by the Ahmedabad crime branch days after the Supreme Court dismissed the plea filed by Zakia Jafri in JuneZakia had alleged a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 postGodhra riots in Gujarat but the top court upheld the clean chit given by the SIT to PM Modi and 63 othersThe apex court had said there was no title of material to support the allegation that violence after the Godhra incident was a preplanned event owing to the conspiracy hatched at the highest level in the stateZakias husband Ehsan Jafri was among the 68 people killed at Ahmedabads Gulberg Society during violence that erupted on February 28 2002 a day after 59 people were killed in the Godhra train burning incidentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever