Human rights activist and former police director general arrested after Supreme Court ruling in Gujurat case

A noted human rights defender, Teesta Setalvad, and RB Sreekumar, the former Director General of Police in Gujarat, were arrested by the anti-terrorism squad of the Gujarat Police on 25 June.

Their arrest, which prompted protets across India, came after India’s Supreme Court decided on 24 June to uphold the 2012 findings of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) that absolved Prime Minister Narendra Modi of any criminal conspiracy in communal violence which took place in Gujarat in 2002, when he was serving as the Chief Minister of the state.

The SIT cleared Mr Modi and 63 other senior government officials of any involvement in the violence. At the time, Mr Modi was accused of condoning the violence, and several police and government officials were also accused of directing the rioters and giving them a list of Muslim owned properties.

Approximately 2,000 people were reportedly killed in the violence in 2002, most of whom were Muslims. In one of the incidents, a group of 69 people who were hiding in an apartment complex, including former Member of Parliament Ehsan Jafri, was brutally hacked to death.

In 2013, Mr Jafri’s widow Zakia Jafri, with the assistance of Ms Setalvad, filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the SIT’s decision. However, the State of Gujarat objected to the involvement of Ms Setalvad as a petitioner on the basis that she was “persecuting the lis (suit) and exploiting the emotions of the appellant.”

The Supreme Court ultimately upheld the decision of the SIT on 24 June 2022, and the next day, on 25 June, a First Information Report (FIR), which is required for the police to open up an investigation, was filed by a police inspector against Ms Setalvad, Mr Sreekumar and former police inspector Sanjeev Bhatt (who is already serving life imprisonment in a separate case) on charges of forgery and criminal conspiracy. Hours later, Ms Setalvad and Mr Sreekumar were arrested.

Over 2,000 human rights activists, actors, writers, poets, musicians, academics, politicians and lawyers from around the world have condemned the arrests in a statement. They noted that the Supreme Court’s decision “deepens the sense of injustice and marks a moment of profound hurt and loss as far as all those who care about constitutional values. The Supreme Court not only dismissed the idea that there was a conspiracy to commit the crimes of murder, rape and destruction of property, but instead went further and took to task those who sought to ensure justice for the communal hate crimes following the Godhra incident.”

“We condemn this naked and brazen attempt to silence and criminalize those who stand for constitutional values and who have struggled against very difficult odds to try to achieve justice for the victims of 2002.”

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: “CSW calls for Teesta Setalvad and RB Sreekumar to be released from prison unconditionally and without delay. They are being targeted for daring to speak out against the perpetrators of the brutal crimes which took place during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. The freedom to criticise or question the government and those in power is vital for democracy to thrive, and these arrests send a chilling message to Indian citizens who may want to speak out against oppression. We call for the law enforcement authorities to seek clarification first from the apex court before taking such harsh actions against civil society actors. The Supreme Court should come out to clarify its position that these arrests were not intended as an outcome of its decision.”