Faced with doubts created by Best Bakery key witness Zaheera Sheikh, not only about her own statements but also about the credential of social activist Teesta Setalvad, the Supreme Court today ordered a high-level probe to find out which one of them was speaking the truth.While Zaheera has retracted from her statement time and again, alleging during her last turnaround that she was held captive by Setalvad, who minted money by selling the Bakery case abroad, the activist-lawyer has alleged that the VHP and BJP leaders in Vadodara lured Zaheera through money to change her statement.Conceding that the situation was ‘‘delicate’’, a bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice H.K. Sema directed the Registrar General of the Supreme Court to take the help of an IG-rank official of the Delhi Police and conduct a probe about the basis of the statements of Zaheera and the affidavits filed by Setalvad in the apex court.The court, which had ordered transfer of the trial from Gujarat to Mumbai and quashed the acquittal of the 21 accused in the case, was in a piquant situation to find that no affidavit signed by Zaheera was presented before it in the entire period while dealing with the case. ‘‘We are of the considered view that a detailed inquiry is necessary to ascertain if Zaheera was telling the truth and which version is the truthful account of what she has allegedly seen or not seen.,’’ the bench said.The court also allowed the request of the trial court to extend the time limit for completion of the trial and fixed May 31 as the deadline.Zaheera’s counsel, Senior Advocate P.N. Lekhi trained his guns solely at Setalvad, referring to her by her married name Teesta Javed Anand and accusing her of selling the self-respect of a state abroad for money. This evoked sharp response from Setalvad’s counsel, Senior Advocate Anil Diwan, who said the court proceedings were being used for character assassination of the social activist who did her best in establishing the truth in the riot case.
