Ahmedabad court rejects Teesta Setalvad's discharge plea in 2002 riots evidence fabrication case
Ahmedabad, Jul 20: A sessions court here on Thursday rejected activist Teesta Setalvad's application seeking discharge in a case related to alleged fabrication of evidence related to the 2002 Gujarat riots.
While rejecting the plea, additional sessions judge A R Patel also asked the prosecution and defense to "open the case" (start trial proceedings) from July 24.
The Gujarat government had opposed Setalvad's application, arguing that she abused the trust of riots victims and implicated innocent persons.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court had granted bail to her in the same case after the Gujarat High Court denied her relief.
Setalvad and two others former state Director General of Police R B Sreekumar and former Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt were arrested by the city crime branch in June 2022 on charges of forgery and fabricating false evidence with the intent to implicate Gujarat government functionaries in the 2002 riots cases.
Judge A R Patel had earlier rejected Sreekumar's discharge plea. Bhatt has not sought similar relief yet.
In its written reply opposing Setalvad's discharge plea, the state government had alleged that she drafted affidavits in the names of riots victims to implicate innocent persons including then chief minister Narendra Modi, senior officers and state ministers.
The state government relied on the statements of witnesses Rais Khan Pathan who once worked at Setalvad's NGO Citizen for Peace, Narendra Brahmbhatt who had claimed that late Congress leader Ahmed Patel had paid the activist Rs 30 lakh, and riots victim Qutubuddin Ansari.
The government also highlighted `contradictions' in the affidavits of riots victims prepared by Setalvad and their own statements recorded before the courts.
"There is sufficient evidence and reasons to file a chargesheet against the accused," the government affidavit said.
Rejecting the allegation that evidence was fabricated to frame innocent people, Setalvad's lawyer had submitted that the affidavits which are alleged to be false had been signed by the witnesses and submitted before various courts.
These affidavits, therefore, can not be considered as `fabricated evidence', the defense said.
Even testimonies of witnesses were recorded by the courts based on the signed affidavits, it pointed out.
The case against Setalvad and others was registered following a judgement by the Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, on a petition of Zakia Jafri who had alleged the existence of a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 post-Godhra communal riots.
Zakia Jafri is the wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was among those killed during the riots.
The Supreme Court judgement of June 2022 upheld the clean chit given to (now prime minister) Narendra Modi and other state functionaries and observed that some people kept "the pot boiling" of the case "for ulterior design" and "all those involved in such abuse of process, need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with the law.
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Two women died, 6 taken ill after ‘consuming’ mango kernel gruel in Odisha
Bhubaneswar/Berhampur/Phulbani, Nov 1: At least two tribal women died and six others fell ill after allegedly consuming mango kernel gruel in Odisha's Kandhamal district, police said on Friday.
Consumption of mango kernel, prepared by boiling the seeds in water, was reported from Mandipanka village in the district's Daringbadi block, an officer said.
While one of the two women (Rasmita Pattamajhi aged 22) died on Thursday night at Mohana community health centre in Gajapati district where she was undergoing treatment after "consuming the gruel", another woman (Runu Majhi aged 29) breathed her last while being taken to MKCG Medical College Hospital in Berhampur, Gadapur sarpanch Kumari Mallick said.
Six others, who fell ill after allegedly consuming the gruel, were admitted to a hospital and their condition was critical, said Dr Subrat Das, a medical officer of the health facility.
"All the six have been admitted to the hospital in a serious condition. We suspected that they fell sick due to food poisoning. The exact cause of the illness will be ascertained after completion of the investigation," he added.
The six were identified as Pravati Patmajhi, Dranglu Patmajhi, Tuni Majhi, Susama Patmajhi, Jita Majhi and Jibanti Majhi, Daringbadi BDO Pritiranjan Ratha said.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government has rejected allegations that tribal people have been consuming mango kernel gruel due to a lack of access to rice under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Rasmita's husband Anil Pattamajhi alleged that they were denied rice under PDS for the last three months because of which his wife consumed mango kernel.
However, Kandhamal district magistrate-cum-collector Amrit Ruturaj dismissed the allegations, saying the family received rice according to PDS norms. "We are awaiting the postmortem report to determine the facts," the collector added.
Deputy chief minister Pravati Parida, who is also in-charge of the women and child development department said, "It is not a case of malnutrition. Mango kernel is part of their (tribal) regular diet. Sometime, the mango kernels get contaminated and lead to such unfortunate incidents. We have been actively spreading awareness about the risks of food contamination."
Health and family welfare minister Mukesh Mahaling, who ordered a departmental inquiry into the death of two tribal women, said a team from the district headquarters hospital and another local team are at the spot to assess the situation and conduct a detailed probe into the incident.
Mahaling said that the government was waiting for the postmortem report for a confirmation on the cause of the deaths. "People in Kandhamal consume mango kernel. It is common in that region and there also have been reports of health complications linked to it in the past," he said.
The Kandhmal incident reminds a similar tragedy involving mango kernel deaths in Kashipur block of Rayagada district, where at least 20 people died in 2001, and two more succumbed to mango kernel consumption in 2016. Additionally, mango kernel has claimed lives in Laxmipur in Koraput district in 2012 and 2013, as well as in Jharigaon in Nabarangpur district in 2018.
