Ahmedabad court rejects Teesta Setalvad's anticipatory bail plea

, March 26: A civil and sessions court in Ahmedabad on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail application filed by activist

, her husband Javed Anand and three others in the alleged fund embezzlement case in

riots of 2002.

However, Setalvad is protected from arrest till 31 March as ordered by the Supreme Court. She might move Gujarat High Court against the order.

Additional sessions judge S M Vora, who rejected the bail application, observed that there is enough evidence against the accused persons and further police investigation is needed in the presence of the accused.

The court upheld the argument that the funds collected by the NGO run by Teesta, for the riot victims, were not used properly and instead, they were used by the accused for personal purposes such as payment of credit cards, among other things.

The FIR in this case was lodged by Ahmedabad's Detection of Crime Branch (DCB), which had filed various affidavits claiming that Setalvad and her husband allegedly embezzled funds.

In the affidavits, DCB officials claimed that Setalvad paid her credit card bills from the funds meant for converting Gulberg Society into "museum of resistance" in Ahmedabad. It was alleged that she paid for her groceries and wine, among other bills, from the funds.

However, Setalvad had refuted these allegations, claiming that he cleared the bills of credit cards in lieu of her work for Citizen for Justice and Peace (CJP), an NGO which she runs, assisting the victims of riots.

Oneindia News