The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Gujarat government to respond to a plea by anti-Godhra riots activist Teesta Setalvad, her husband Javed Anand and two NGOs challenging the freezing of their personal bank accounts by the State police.
A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U.U. Lalit gave Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Gujarat, two weeks to file its response. The case is scheduled to be heard on September 21.
Ms. Setalvad, her husband and the two NGOs — Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace — had approached the Supreme Court challenging an October 7 >verdict of the Gujarat High Court which rejected their plea to de-freeze their bank accounts.
The Ahmedabad Police had acted soon after the Crime Branch started probing a case against Ms. Setalvad and the others. They were accused of embezzling Rs 1.51 crore collected to convert Gulberg Society, where 69 people were killed during the post-Godhra riots, into a 2002 riots museum. The petitioners alleged that their accounts were frozen without following the due process of the law.
