Can file FIR against Teesta Setalvad, HRD told

SG concurs with probe findings on ‘hatred-filled’ writings

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Social activist Teesta Setalvad

Solicitor General of India Ranjit Kumar has concurred with the findings of an inquiry that held activist Teesta Setalvad of Sabrang Trust culpable for “hatred-filled, disharmony-spreading, ill-will generating, enmity-creating explosive writings”, and said the HRD Ministry can file an FIR against her under Sections 153A and 153B of the IPC.

According to sources, the HRD Ministry under Smriti Irani had approached the SG directly for legal opinion on the recommendations of the panel headed by Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat Central University Syed A Bari. Her successor, Prakash Javadekar, now has to take a final call on the matter.

Kumar is learnt to have “appreciated” the in-depth findings of the report and observed that the charge of creating disharmony through the study material prepared by Sabrang Trust is well supported with evidence.

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The three-member inquiry panel against Setalvad and her NGO was constituted in 2014 on the basis of a complaint by Rais Khan Pathan, a former aide of Setalvad who fell out with her several years ago. His complaint alleged that the activist and her husband, Javed Anand, embezzled public money given to their NGO under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, a programme of the HRD Ministry. Sabrang Trust was tasked with preparing supplementary readers for Mumbai schools.

The probe report was submitted in July 2015. However, the HRD Ministry sent the findings to Kumar for a legal opinion this year.

As first reported by The Indian Express on October 18, the committee, in its report, is said to have pointed out that Sabrang Trust should never have been considered by the HRD Ministry for a scheme of assistance on education since education was never its objective. Careful scrutiny of the trust application would have led to its rejection but the ministry chose to sanction Rs 2.06 crore for a two-year project and Rs 1.39 crore was disbursed, the committee is said to have stated in its report.

The committee said that officials who were in the HRD Ministry when the UPA was in power “can’t escape accountability” because Rs 1.39 crore was released to Sabrang Trust though it was not eligible for it.

Ritika Chopra

Ritika Chopra, an award-winning journalist with over 17 years of experience, serves as the Chief of the National Bureau (Govt) and National Education Editor at The Indian Express in New Delhi. In her current role, she oversees the newspaper's coverage of government policies and education. Ritika closely tracks the Union Government, focusing on the politically sensitive Election Commission of India and the Education Ministry, and has authored investigative stories that have prompted government responses. Ritika joined The Indian Express in 2015. Previously, she was part of the political bureau at The Economic Times, India’s largest financial daily. Her journalism career began in Kolkata, her birthplace, with the Hindustan Times in 2006 as an intern, before moving to Delhi in 2007. Since then, she has been reporting from the capital on politics, education, social sectors, and the Election Commission of India. ... Read More

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