The Supreme Court on Monday, April 13, 2026, referred an application filed by activist Teesta Setalvad seeking the release of her passport to a larger three-judge bench. Ms. Setalvad’s passport is currently in the custody of a sessions court as a condition of the regular bail granted to her in July 2023 regarding allegations of fabricating documents related to the 2002 Gujarat riots.
A division bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma directed the registry to place the matter before Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant. The bench observed that since the original bail order was passed by a three-judge bench, it would be appropriate for a bench of similar strength to hear the plea for modification of bail conditions.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Ms. Setalvad, informed the court that the activist is seeking the return of her travel documents. Under the conditions of her regular bail granted on July 19, 2023, Ms. Setalvad was required to surrender her passport to the trial court and was prohibited from influencing witnesses.
The 2023 ruling by a three-judge bench had quashed a previous Gujarat High Court order that denied her bail and ordered her immediate surrender. At that time, the apex court described the High Court’s refusal as “perverse” and “contradictory,” noting that Ms. Setalvad’s custodial interrogation was unnecessary as a chargesheet had already been filed and the evidence was primarily documentary.
The legal proceedings against Ms. Setalvad, alongside former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt and former Gujarat DGP R.B. Sreekumar, began following a June 24, 2022, Supreme Court judgment in the Zakia Jafri case. In that verdict, the court upheld the clean chit given to the then-Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others regarding a “larger conspiracy” behind the 2002 riots.
Following the Zakia Jafri judgment—which remarked that some individuals kept “the pot boiling” for “ulterior designs”—the Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested Ms. Setalvad on June 25, 2022. She is accused of fabricating evidence to frame innocent individuals in post-Godhra riot cases.
Ms. Setalvad has consistently maintained that the observations in the 2022 verdict were made without hearing her, as the Gujarat government had opposed her intervention in that specific matter.
The activist has seen a series of legal battles since her arrest. While an Ahmedabad sessions court initially rejected her bail in July 2022, the Supreme Court provided her with interim protection and eventually regular bail in 2023. During those hearings, the court emphasized that even in serious cases, “even an ordinary criminal is entitled to some form of interim relief.”
The current application specifically seeks the return of her passport to allow her to travel. The matter will now await the constitution of a three-judge bench by the Chief Justice.
