SC grants pre-arrest bail to Pawan Khera in case linked to Assam CM’s wife

New Delhi (TIP): The Supreme Court on April 30 granted anticipatory bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera in a defamation and forgery case registered against him by the Assam Police. A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandurkar set aside the Gauhati High Court’s order refusing anticipatory bail and held that the circumstances of the case indicated the presence of political rivalry, warranting protection of Khera’s personal liberty.
The case alleging defamation, forgery and criminal conspiracy was registered against Khera following his recent claims at a press conference that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan holds multiple foreign passports and undisclosed assets abroad.
Assam Police had visited Khera’s residence in Delhi on April 7 but he was not present there.
Khera later approached the Telangana High Court seeking transit anticipatory bail. The Telangana High Court granted him a week’s relief on April 10 to enable him approach the courts in Assam for anticipatory bail.
On April 15, the Supreme Court stayed Telangana High Court’s April 10 order on an appeal moved by Assam government.
Subsequently, on April 17, the top court refused to extend the transit bail period. It asked Khera to approach the Gauhati High Court instead. Khera then moved the Gauhati High Court. In his petition before the Gauhati High Court, Khera argued that the allegations against him arise out of statements made in a public and political context during a press conference. He said that the same were “selectively construed” to initiate the criminal proceedings.