Bombay HC grants anticipatory bail to Teesta Setalvad

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has granted anticipatory bail to Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand. The court rejected the CBI’s plea for custodial interrogation of the couple.

Court, however, asked the couple to attend the CBI office when called for questioning and also seek the court’s permission before leaving Mumbai. But importantly, the judge said that dissent against a government did not amount to dissent against the state. “A dissenting view may be against the policy of the government but it need not be against the sovereignty of the nation,” Justice Mridula Bhatkar said, adding that it was the government's duty to protect dissenters. The HC did not agree that the case revealed a threat to national security.