Author: R. Venkataraman
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: March 30, 2005
First she accused her mentor Teesta
Setalvad. Now it's Justice A.S. Anand's turn.
Zahira Sheikh, the "face" of one
of the worst Gujarat riot cases, the Best Bakery massacre, has accused
the National Human Rights Commission chairman of wrongly recording her
statement and sought to cross-examine him.
Former Chief Justice Anand was instrumental
in bringing the attention of the Supreme Court - and the country - on the
Best Bakery case.
Zahira also sought a probe into
the bank accounts of Teesta, whom she had accused of "tutoring" her to
implicate innocent people in the case in which she has turned hostile.
In an application in the Supreme
Court, Zahira said: "I was taken to the office of (the) NHRC and was made
to say orally what Teesta had told me to say." But the statement the rights
panel had produced before the court was not what she had told the commission,
Zahira said.
"I would like my lawyer to examine
the chairman of the NHRC" in respect of that statement, she added.
The statement, which Zahira said
was recorded by Justice Anand and two members, was part of the affidavit
the panel had filed before the apex court. It was on the basis of the panel's
petition that the court ordered retrial of the case in Mumbai while quashing
the acquittal of all the accused.
Zahira sought the probe into her
former mentor's bank accounts on the ground that the social activist "has
amassed huge wealth through questionable means".
"Neither Teesta nor her husband
is running any NGO called Communal Combat, which is a business venture
of a company or firm known as Sabrang Publication," she claimed.
"I and Best Bakery were the symbols
to ensure money is collected in the name of combat communalism," Zahira
said.
"My lawyers tell me that this is
a device to avoid (the) foreign contribution regulation act. Had it been
an NGO, every foreign contribution would have been disclosed after giving
information to the Union home ministry. It is a disguise to cover up receipts
of foreign contributions."
Teesta, who has accused Zahira of
taking bribe to hush up the case, refused to comment. In an affidavit filed
before the Supreme Court, Teesta had said all the allegations against her
were "false".
Tomorrow, the police video of the
scene at Best Bakery on March 2, 2002, a day after the massacre, will be
shown in the Mumbai trial court. The defence had opposed the screening.
