The Supreme Court on Thursday referred Teesta Setalvad’s plea in the Gulbarg Society embezzlement case to a larger Bench. The stay on the arrest of the activist and husband Javed Anand will continue indefinitely until the larger Bench decides on it.
A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A.K. Goel gave its verdict on a plea for anticipatory bail by the activist and Mr. Anand in the Gulbarg society embezzlement case.
Now a larger Bench selected by the Chief Justice H.L. Dattu will decide on the constitutional question of “concept of regulated liberty” of an accused who has applied for anticipatory bail in the light of prosecution's assertion of his/her non-cooperation in probe.
Remarking that "personal liberty cannot be put in the ventilator", the Bench had on February 19, 2015 >reserved its judgment on Ms. Setalvad’s plea, while continuing its interim stay on her arrest.
"Give me liberty or give me death. Personal liberty is paramount. No one will barter his or her liberty for all the tea in China, for all the pearls in the sea and for all the stars in the sky," said Justice Misra, who led the Bench, conveying to the Gujarat Police the importance of what Ms. Setalvad was seeking from the highest court.
