New Delhi, April 5: The Bombay High Court on Thursday gave Teesta Setalvad interim protection from arrest in a case of FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) violations in which she has to appear before police in Ahmedabad on Friday. As per reports, the interim protection from arrest is given till 2nd May and is extendable if a larger bench is not constituted till then.

The cancellation of FCRA registration of Sabrang Trust was a big blow to Teesta Setalvad and her secularist patrons and followers.  In December 2017, the Supreme Court had dismissed the pleas of activist Teesta Setalvad, her husband and her two NGOs challenging the Gujarat High Court order rejecting their pleas for de-freezing of their personal bank accounts. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the pleas are dismissed.

To recall, Setalvad, her husband Javed Anand and their two NGOs—Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace—had challenged the October 7, 2015 verdict of the high court in the alleged misappropriation of funds received by their NGOs for Gujarat riot victims of 2002. The apex court had reserved its verdict on July 5, 2017. Earlier the top court had questioned the source of money in the bank accounts of Setalvad and others which were frozen by the Ahmedabad Police in 2015 after the allegations of misappropriation had surfaced.

Also, one of the residents of Gulberg society, Firoz Khan Pathan, had in 2017 filed a complaint against Setalvad and others alleging that money was raised to make a museum at Gulberg Society in the memory of 69 people killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots, but it had not been utilised for the purpose.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 05, 2018 12:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).