Gujarat's Best Bakery case: Teesta forced me to lie, says Witness

MUMBAI: Yasmeenbano Shaikh, one of the key witnesses in Gujarat's Best Bakery case, has moved the Bombay high court, alleging she was lured and misguided by social activist Teesta Setalvad to give false testimony against 17 accused, of whom a Mumbai special court has convicted nine to life imprisonment.
A special court in Mazgaon conducted trial of Vadodara's Best Bakery massacre that took place in backdrop of 2002 Godhra riots.
Yasmeen moved the HC early this week after no action was taken on her letter dated June 17, 2010 addressed to the Chief Justice of the Bombay high court. Her petition said she made a false deposition against the accused and identified them falsely at the behest and advice of Teesta Setalvad only in the false hope that the social activist would help her financially.
Teesta Setalvad was not available for comment and calls to her mobile were not answered. Yasmeen has asked the court to record her evidence afresh while hearing the appeal filed by the nine convicts challenging the trial court's order.
In February 2006, the Mazagaon special court sentenced nine of the accused to life imprisonment. The court later tried and convicted Zaheera Shaikh and others who had turned hostile for perjury.
Appeals filed by the convicts have been admitted by the high court and is pending for final hearing.