SC asks activist Teesta Setalvad, her husband to cooperate with Gujarat Police in fund embezzlement case

New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand to cooperate in the probe being conducted by the Gujarat Police in an case of alleged embezzlement of funds.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sudhanshu Dhulia, and Prashant Kumar Mishra passed the above direction as it disposed of a plea filed by the investigative agency against an order of the Gujarat High Court granting anticipatory bail to the couple.

The bench also ordered that the earlier direction passed by the apex court granting interim protection from arrest is made absolute as the charge sheet has not been filed so far in the case.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju said that the duo were not cooperating with the police investigation.

In relation to connected cases, the Supreme Court said that nothing survives in the matter as regular bail has already been granted to the accused.

In March 2015, the Supreme Court had referred to a larger bench the question of grant of anticipatory bail to Setalvad and her husband in connection with alleged embezzlement of funds for a museum at Ahmedabad's Gulbarg Society which were devastated in the 2002 riots. In July this year, the Supreme Court had granted regular bail to Setalvad in connection with another case relating to alleged fabrication of documents to frame high-ranking officials including then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots cases in the state.

Setalvad, who has been on interim bail since September last year, was asked by the Gujarat High Court to "surrender immediately" after it rejected her bail plea on July 1. However, she was granted interim protection against arrest by the apex court in a special sitting convened in late night on the same day.

Ahmedabad police's Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) had accused her for conspiring to falsely implicate innocent individuals in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.