The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea by activist Teesta Setalvad and others for the defreezing of nine bank accounts of her, husband Javed Anand and two NGOs.
A Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, however, gave liberty to the petitioners to seek relief after the completion of the ongoing probe into a 2014 FIR pertaining to misappropriation of funds meant for the victims of the 2002 riots in Gujarat.
“Indisputably, the investigation is still in progress. The suspicion entertained by the investigating agency as to how the appellants appropriated huge funds, which in fact were meant to be disbursed to the unfortunate victims of 2002 riots, will have to be explained by them,” Chief Justice Misra and Justice K.M. Khanwilkar said.
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Nine bank accounts of Teesta, Anand and their two NGOs – Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace – were frozen by the crime branch of Ahmedabad Police on January 21, 2014 during the probe on allegations of embezzlement of ₹1.51 crore collected to convert Gulberg Society, where 69 people were killed during the post-Godhra riots, into a 2002 riots museum.
“There is nothing in Section 102 of the Criminal Procedure Code which mandates giving of prior notice to the account holder before the seizure of his bank account,” the court said.
The Gujarat High Court in October 2015 had dismissed their pleas for defreezing of the bank accounts, and upheld the lower court order which observed that the accused had not cooperated with the investigation.
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