Gujarat court likely to pass order on bail pleas of Teesta Setalvad, Sreekumar today
Ahmedabad(PTI): A sessions court in Ahmedabad is likely to pass its order on Friday on the bail applications of activist Teesta Setalvad and former DGP R B Sreekuamr arrested for allegedly fabricating documents to frame innocent people in the 2002 riots cases.
Additional principal judge D D Thakkar is likely to pronounce the order on the bail pleas.
On Thursday, the court had deferred its order in the case till Friday, which it did for the second time this week.
The two accused have denied the charges. The government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case. Apart from Setalvad and Sreekumar, former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt is also an accused in the case and has been arrested.
The trio has been arrested by the crime branch, which had filed a first information report (FIR) against them under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offence).
In its affidavit, the SIT has alleged that they were part of a larger conspiracy carried out at the behest of late Congress leader Ahmed Patel to destabilise the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Narendra Modi.
It has alleged that Setalvad was paid Rs 30 lakh at Patel's behest soon after the Godhra train burning incident of 2002. Sreekumar was a "disgruntled government officer" who "abused the process for damning the elected representatives, bureaucracy and police administration of the whole state of Gujarat for ulterior purposes", the SIT claimed.
The FIR against Setalvad, Sreekumar and Bhatt was registered after the Supreme Court last month dismissed the plea filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Her plea had alleged a "larger conspiracy" behind the post-Godhra riots.
On February 8, 2012, the SIT filed a closure report giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Modi and 63 others, including senior government officials, saying there was "no prosecutable evidence" against them.
The top court on June 24 this year upheld the SIT's clean chit to Modi and 63 others.
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Vijay unable to prove majority, not invited for CM oath ceremony: Sources
Chennai: Actor-politician Vijay has reportedly not been invited to take oath as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after failing to demonstrate support from the required number of MLAs, sources in Raj Bhavan said.
According to media reports that quoted sources in the office of R.N. Ravi Arlekar, Vijay could not prove the backing of 118 legislators, the majority mark in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Despite last-minute efforts to secure support from the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazagam (AMMK), and an IUML legislator, Vijay reportedly managed support from only 116 MLAs, falling short by two members.
Sources said Vijay failed to submit letters of support from the VCK and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).
Later, the IUML issued a statement clarifying that it was not part of the TVK-led alliance.
Meanwhile, AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran is also said to have informed the Governor that his party would support the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) instead.
Earlier in the evening, Vijay had met Governor Arlekar and staked claim to form the government, stating that he enjoyed the support of 118 MLAs.
