Social activist Teesta Setalvad comes out of the CBI office after recording her statement on Monday. (Press Trust of India)
Activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband splurged on wine and whiskey and ate at fancy Mumbai restaurants with funds embezzled from their NGO, the Gujarat government claimed in the Supreme Court today.
While contesting Ms Setalvad's request for anticipatory bail, the state's police accused the 53-year-old and her spouse Javed Anand of trying to tamper with evidence to impede the investigation against her. It said documents obtained show that Ms Setalvad claimed reimbursement for hairstyling expenses occurred "during trips to Rome and Pakistan".
Earlier this month, the Central Bureau of Investigation raided Ms Setalvad's home Mumbai after filing a criminal case against her for violating foreign exchange laws and misusing the funds donated to her NGO by the US-based Ford Foundation in 2009. At an earlier hearing, the CBI controversially described her as "a threat to national security."
Ms Setalvad has denied any wrongdoing; her lawyer says she is being persecuted for the cases that she filed earlier against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of failing to stop the communal riots that ravaged Gujarat in 2002. The Supreme Court has said there is no evidence that as Chief Minister at the time, Mr Modi did not do enough to stop the violence which killed at least 1,000 people.
Prime Minister Modi's government has accused some foreign charities of trying meddle in domestic politics and others, like Greenpeace, of hampering industrial projects on social and environmental grounds. The PM has also criticized what he called "five-star activists".
Amid a crackdown, the Home Ministry put the $12.5 billion Ford Foundation on a watch list this year.
The toughened rules governing charities have trigged concern in Washington.
Greenpeace India has contested the allegations against it in court. It says the government is trying to silence criticism and dissent in the world's largest democracy.