Gujarat HC judge recuses himself from hearing regular bail plea of Teesta Setalvad
Ahmedabad (PTI): Gujarat High Court judge Justice Samir Dave on Tuesday recused himself from hearing the regular bail plea of activist Teesta Setalvad in connection with a case of the alleged fabrication of evidence to frame innocent people concerning the 2002 Gujarat riots.
When the matter came up for hearing before Justice Samir Dave, he said "not before me," but didn't assign any reason.
Setalvad is out on interim bail granted to her by the Supreme Court on September 2.
The Ahmedabad crime branch had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Setalvad, former DGP RB Sreekumar and ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the clean chit given by the SIT to then chief minister Narendra Modi and others in 2002 post-Godhra riots cases.
Setalvad and co-accused Sreekumar were taken into custody on July 25. Their bail pleas were rejected by the sessions court on July 30, after which they approached the High Court. Meanwhile, Setalvad secured interim bail from the top court. Later, the HC let out Sreekumar on interim bail.
A day before, another bench of the high court had extended by ten days the interim bail of Sreekumar pending the disposal of his regular bail plea by the sessions court.
Setalvad and the two ex-IPS officers were booked under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to forgery, giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of a capital offence, criminal conspiracy, etc.
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Assam to lift all cases against Koch Rajbongshis in Foreigners' Tribunals: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI): The Assam cabinet has decided to lift all cases pending against people from the Koch Rajbongshi community in the Foreigners' Tribunals, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
They will also no longer carry the tag of 'D' or doubtful voters, he said.
''There are 28,000 cases pending in different Foreigners' Tribunals in the state against people of the community. The cabinet has taken a historic decision of lifting the cases with immediate effect,'' Sarma said at a press conference here after the cabinet meeting.
The government believes that the Koch Rajbongshis are an indigenous community of the state and they are an inextricable part of ''our social and cultural fabric'', he asserted.
The people of this community are poor and have suffered a lot over the years, he said.
''They will no longer carry the tag of foreigners or ‘D’ voters,'' the CM said.
Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies, particularly in Assam, established to determine if a person residing in India is a "foreigner" as defined by the Foreigners Act of 1946, based on the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order of 1964.
These tribunals are designed to address matters related to citizenship and the presence of “foreigners” in India, specifically focusing on cases where someone is suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
There are 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals across Assam.
The Koch Rajbongshis have a sizeable presence in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and parts of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, and they demand Scheduled Tribe status.
