Best Bakery case key witness Zahira Shaikh and social activist Teesta Setalvad, who have been trading allegations, have been asked to appear on April 18 before a high-powered committee set up by the Supreme Court to examine the veracity of their claims.
Headed by Registrar General of the apex court B M Gupta, who co-opted Delhi Police Joint Commissioner Kanwaljit Deol as its member, the committee has directed both the women to appear before it, sources said.
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The committee, which began its probe on April 6, has been entrusted to find out in four months who was telling the truth -- Zahira or Teesta.
Faced with doubts created by Zahira not only about her own statements but also Setalvad's credentials, the court had on January 10 ordered a high-level probe into the issue.
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Conceding that the situation was "delicate", a Bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice H K Sema had directed the Registrar General of the apex court to take the help of an inspector general rank official from Delhi Police
and conduct a probe about the basis of the statements of Zahira and the affidavits filed by Teesta in the apex Court.
The Registrar General, after receiving the order, held consultations with Police Commissioner K K Paul and chose Deol for the task.
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While Zahira has retracted from her statement time and again, alleging during her last turnaround that she was held captive by Setalvad who made money by "selling the Bakery case abroad", the activist-lawyer alleged that the local Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Vadodara lured her with huge amounts of money to
change her statement.
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