Teesta Setalvad Passport Plea: Supreme Court Refers Matter To 3-Judge Bench

The direction was passed by a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma, which noted that the original bail order in Setalvad’s case had been delivered by a three-judge bench.

In view of this, the Court deemed it appropriate that the present application also be considered by a bench of similar strength.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Setalvad, mentioned the matter before the Court, seeking appropriate directions on her application for release of her passport.

Setalvad was granted regular bail in July 2023 in a case registered by the Gujarat Police alleging fabrication of evidence in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots cases. The earlier judgment, delivered by a three-judge bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai, A.S. Bopanna, and Dipankar Datta, had set aside the Gujarat High Court’s order denying her bail.

As part of the bail conditions, the Court had directed that Setalvad’s passport remain deposited with the trial court, effectively restricting her ability to travel abroad without prior permission.

In the present application, Setalvad has sought release of her passport, which continues to be in the custody of the Sessions Court.

Notably, the Supreme Court has, on earlier occasions, permitted Setalvad to travel abroad for specific purposes. These included travel to Amsterdam for the premiere of her documentary “CycleMahesh” and to Malaysia for attending an anti-racism conference, both subject to conditions imposed by the Court.

Teesta Setalvad a co-petitioner in the plea before Supreme Court challenging “clean chit” given to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots case, was detained by Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad on June 25, 2022.

Before the Gujarat High Court, appearing for the Gujarat government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had opposed the plea for grant of any relief to her. He said that Teesta did not deserve even interim bail as she had forged documents, tutored witnesses and influenced the justice delivery system to make sensational allegations against the state government. He also termed her an "extraordinary citizen" and urged the court to follow the usual procedure for bail applications. However, after the brief hearing, the division bench differed on the issue of grant of protection to Setalvad. The bench then sent the matter to the Chief Justice of India for taking an administrative decision to constitute a larger bench.

The matter was then placed before a larger bench at 9:15 p.m., the same night. The special three-judge bench then stayed the Gujarat High Court's order denying bail to Setalvad and granted one week's interim relief to her.