The Ahmedabad police have filed a first information report against activists Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand, who have been fighting legal cases on behalf of victims of the 2002 riots in Gujarat. The police accuse them of embezzling Rs 3.85 crore from two non-profit organisations they founded, Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace, over the past 10 years.
The Supreme Court is to hear their application for anticipatory bail on Thursday.
The case involves the Gulberg Society, a colony in Ahmedabad where 69 Muslims were killed on February 28, 2002, including parliamentarian Ehsan Jafri.
Setalvad and Anand wanted to convert the colony into a memorial for victims of communal violence, but later gave up the plan for a lack of funds. Some residents of the society went to the police accusing them of misappropriating funds they had raised for the museum.
Here is a timeline of the events:
End-2007: Setalvad and Anand tell members of Gulberg Society that they would like to raise money to buy the colony at the market price or whatever price the residents set and then erect a memorial in the compound. They say they want to call the memorial the Museum of Resistance. They say they will do this through the Sabrang Trust.
2008: In January, the Trust sends the Society a formal proposal. On June 29, the Society passes a resolution agreeing to the proposal, and the Trust begins to raise money to buy out the residents and construct a memorial.
2012: The Trust raises Rs 4.6 lakh, which is only a small fraction of the colony's market value, which had shot up in the intervening years. On November 10, the Trust tells Gulberg Society it has not managed to raise the funds after all. They inform donors that they will divert this money towards legal aid instead. The Society then passes a resolution saying members can now sell their flats to whomever they want.
February 2013: Twelve residents of Gulberg Society who are not office-bearers lodge a first information report with the Ahmedabad police against Setalvad, Anand and three of the Society's office bearers, including Tanvir Jafri, Ehsan Jafri's son, alleging that they misappropriated funds they had collected for the museum.
March to May 2013: Setalvad and Anand write several times to the Ahmedabad police refuting these claims, saying that their accounts were audited and that there was no misappropriation. The last letter Setalvad and Anand send to the police is in May. The Ahmedabad police asks the chairman of Gulberg Society to not do anything with the property until they finish investigating the complaint.
December 2013: A sessions court in Ahmedabad accepts the closure report of a Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team looking into the alleged role that Narendra Modi and 59 others had played in the Gujarat riots. The closure report exonerates Modi, citing a lack of evidence. Immediately afterwards, Zakia Jafri, Ehsan Jafri's wife and the main petitioner in the Gulberg Society massacre case, announces that she, along with Citizens for Justice and Peace, will challenge this in the Gujarat High Court.
January 4, 2014: The Ahmedabad police files a first information report against Setalvad, Anand, alleging fraud in collecting donations from foreign and local sources for the museum.
January 10, 2014: Setalvad and Anand approach the Bombay High Court for anticipatory bail on grounds that their trusts are registered in Mumbai.
January 31, 2014: The court says it does not have the jurisdiction to decide this and asks them to go through the judicial system in Gujarat.
February 21, 2014: They file for anticipatory bail in the Ahmedabad sessions court.
March 25, 2014: The Ahmedabad sessions court rejects their application for anticipatory bail. The next day, they appeal against this verdict in the Gujarat High Court.
February 12, 2015: The Gujarat High Court rejects their bail application and passes a scathing order. The Ahmedabad police states that they want to interrogate only Setalvad and Anand in custody and not the other three accused.
February 19, 2015: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear their anticipatory bail petition.
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The Supreme Court is to hear their application for anticipatory bail on Thursday.
The case involves the Gulberg Society, a colony in Ahmedabad where 69 Muslims were killed on February 28, 2002, including parliamentarian Ehsan Jafri.
Setalvad and Anand wanted to convert the colony into a memorial for victims of communal violence, but later gave up the plan for a lack of funds. Some residents of the society went to the police accusing them of misappropriating funds they had raised for the museum.
Here is a timeline of the events:
End-2007: Setalvad and Anand tell members of Gulberg Society that they would like to raise money to buy the colony at the market price or whatever price the residents set and then erect a memorial in the compound. They say they want to call the memorial the Museum of Resistance. They say they will do this through the Sabrang Trust.
2008: In January, the Trust sends the Society a formal proposal. On June 29, the Society passes a resolution agreeing to the proposal, and the Trust begins to raise money to buy out the residents and construct a memorial.
2012: The Trust raises Rs 4.6 lakh, which is only a small fraction of the colony's market value, which had shot up in the intervening years. On November 10, the Trust tells Gulberg Society it has not managed to raise the funds after all. They inform donors that they will divert this money towards legal aid instead. The Society then passes a resolution saying members can now sell their flats to whomever they want.
February 2013: Twelve residents of Gulberg Society who are not office-bearers lodge a first information report with the Ahmedabad police against Setalvad, Anand and three of the Society's office bearers, including Tanvir Jafri, Ehsan Jafri's son, alleging that they misappropriated funds they had collected for the museum.
March to May 2013: Setalvad and Anand write several times to the Ahmedabad police refuting these claims, saying that their accounts were audited and that there was no misappropriation. The last letter Setalvad and Anand send to the police is in May. The Ahmedabad police asks the chairman of Gulberg Society to not do anything with the property until they finish investigating the complaint.
December 2013: A sessions court in Ahmedabad accepts the closure report of a Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team looking into the alleged role that Narendra Modi and 59 others had played in the Gujarat riots. The closure report exonerates Modi, citing a lack of evidence. Immediately afterwards, Zakia Jafri, Ehsan Jafri's wife and the main petitioner in the Gulberg Society massacre case, announces that she, along with Citizens for Justice and Peace, will challenge this in the Gujarat High Court.
January 4, 2014: The Ahmedabad police files a first information report against Setalvad, Anand, alleging fraud in collecting donations from foreign and local sources for the museum.
January 10, 2014: Setalvad and Anand approach the Bombay High Court for anticipatory bail on grounds that their trusts are registered in Mumbai.
January 31, 2014: The court says it does not have the jurisdiction to decide this and asks them to go through the judicial system in Gujarat.
February 21, 2014: They file for anticipatory bail in the Ahmedabad sessions court.
March 25, 2014: The Ahmedabad sessions court rejects their application for anticipatory bail. The next day, they appeal against this verdict in the Gujarat High Court.
February 12, 2015: The Gujarat High Court rejects their bail application and passes a scathing order. The Ahmedabad police states that they want to interrogate only Setalvad and Anand in custody and not the other three accused.
February 19, 2015: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear their anticipatory bail petition.
