Supreme Court declines interim relief for Pawan Khera, asks him to approach Assam court

The Supreme Court on April 17 declined to grant interim protection to Congress leader Pawan Khera from possible coercive action in a case filed over allegations against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife. The court directed Khera to seek anticipatory bail before a competent court in Assam.

A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar heard submissions by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Khera, and said the matter should be taken up by courts in Assam. It also asked the concerned court to hear the plea expeditiously and not be influenced by any adverse observations made earlier by the Supreme Court or the Telangana High Court.

The case stems from remarks made by Khera at a press conference on April 5, where he alleged that the Chief Minister’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, held multiple passports and owned foreign property not disclosed in Sarma’s election affidavit ahead of the April 9 Assembly polls. Both Sarma and his wife have dismissed the claims as false and fabricated.

Earlier, on April 15, the Supreme Court had stayed an order of the Telangana High Court granting Khera one-week transit anticipatory bail. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Assam government, argued that the Telangana High Court lacked territorial jurisdiction, noting that Khera’s plea did not justify approaching that court.

An FIR against Khera was registered at the Guwahati Crime Branch police station under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 175 (false statement in connection with an election), Section 35, and Section 318 (cheating).

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