The Supreme Court today asked Best Bakery case key witness Zaheera Sheikh and Gujarat government to explain whether her latest statement favouring the accused in the case amounted to filing a false affidavit before the apex court and should it be viewed as contempt.A bench, comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice H K Sema, also issued notice to National Human Rights Commission on an application filed by Teesta Setalvad of Citizens for Justice and Peace.Setalvad had filed the application seeking a CBI probe into the frequent change of statement by Zaheera who, nearly a month ago, created a stir by accusing Setalvad of pressurising her to change her statement.Prime witness in the case, Zaheera had turned hostile before a Gujarat fast-track court and this led to the acquittal of all 21 accused.But later Zaheera’s mother, Sehrunissa, told The Sunday Express that she and her daughter had lied in court because they feared for their lives.The Supreme Court stepped in, ordering re-trial of the case and transferred it from Gujarat to Mumbai.The SC bench today asked Zaheera and the Gujarat government to file their response before January 3 and posted Setalvad’s application for further hearing on January 10.Appearing for Zaheera, senior advocate P N Lekhi contended that as the trial was going on, the Supreme Court should not pass any order which would have a bearing on the witnesses He was supported by senior advocate Nageshwar Rao who appeared for the accused. Lekhi said that Setalvad’s application was ‘‘full of fiction’’ and a CBI probe against her would be required to establish the truth.
