SC Grants Teesta Setalvad Permission To Travel To Amsterdam

The Supreme Court on Tuesday approved activist Teesta Setalvad’s request to travel to Amsterdam from November 14-24 to attend the International Documentary Film Festival.

Setalvad was invited as the producer of the documentary ‘Cycle Mahesh’.

A bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan granted the permission during a hearing where senior advocate Kapil Sibal represented Setalvad. Sibal highlighted that the court had previously directed that Setalvad’s passport remain with the sessions court.

“My documentary has been awarded in Amsterdam. I am seeking your lordships’ permission to go to Amsterdam from November 14 to November 24,” Sibal informed the bench. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Gujarat government, did not oppose the application.

The court stipulated that the same conditions imposed in August would apply to Setalvad’s travel. In August, she was allowed to visit Malaysia for a conference under similar conditions, including the requirement to return her passport to the trial judge upon her return.

Setalvad must file an undertaking assuring her return to India and face trial, along with providing a solvent surety of Rs 10 lakh to the satisfaction of the sessions court.

In July 2023, the Supreme Court granted her regular bail in a case concerning alleged fabrication of documents related to the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

The court noted that Setalvad’s arrest followed a judgment in the Zakia Jafri case, which questioned the broader conspiracy behind the riots. Jafri, the widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, was among those killed during the violence.

Setalvad, along with former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and ex-DGP R.B. Sreekumar, faced scrutiny after the Supreme Court remarked on the potential abuse of legal processes related to the case.

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