NEW DELHI: In what is seen as an unexpected turn, a new Bench of the Supreme Court will hear an application for anticipatory bail filed by activist Teesta Setalvad, who is facing possible arrest in the Gulberg Society funds embezzlement case, on Thursday. The decision to change the Bench came to light on Wednesday evening when the Supreme Court posted its case list for Thursday on its official website. It shows the case listed before a new Bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A.K. Goel.
The case was heard last week by a Bench of Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Justice N.V. Ramana. The Bench granted Ms. Setalvad and her husband, Javed Anand, interim protection from arrest till Thursday.
Ms. Setalvad is accused of enticing foreign donors to make huge contributions by showing photographs of the 2002 post-Godhra riot victims. The couple had moved the SC after the Gujarat High Court dismissed Ms. Setalvad’s plea last Thursday.
The Supreme Court’s decision to change the Bench coincides with a statement issued by counsel Prashant Bhushan on Wednesday to the media, questioning the “propriety” of Justices Mukhopadhaya and Ramana.
“It has been brought to my notice that Mr. Narendra Modi was an invitee of, and recently attended, the weddings of the children of Justices Mukhopadhaya and Ramana, who are hearing the case of Teesta Setalvad. The allegation of Teesta in this case is that she is being hounded by the Gujarat Police since she had played a leading role in exposing the role of Modi in the Gujarat carnage of 2002, and is seeking accountability for it. In these circumstances, the question has arisen whether it would be appropriate for these judges to hear this case,” Mr. Bhushan said in an e-mail.
