Stay on Setalvad's arrest extended

The Supreme Court Friday extended its order restraining the Gujarat police from arresting social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand.

An apex court bench headed by Justice S.J. Mukhopadhya extended the restrain order as it directed the hearing of an appeal by Setalvand and Anand Feb 19.

It asked Setalvad and the Gujarat government to file whatever additional documents they want to before the court.

Setalvad and her husband have been fighting for the victims of the communal carnage which engulfed Gujarat following the Feb 27, 2002 Godhra train burning.

The couple has been accused of misappropriating around Rs.15 million collected through their NGO Sabrang Trust for setting up a museum at the Gulbarga Society in Ahmedabad, where 69 people were killed during the communal conflagration.

The complaint against Setalvad was filed by 12 residents of the society after the plans for the proposed museum were put in cold storage citing various issues.

However, Setalvad, whose bail plea was rejected by a lower court in March 2014, has termed the allegation as "politically motivated".

Earlier Thursday, the Gujarat High Court rejected the anticipatory bail pleas filed by Setalvad, Anand, Tanvir Jafri, son of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the riots, and Firoze Gulzar, a resident of the Gulbarga Society in Ahmedabad.