In a setback to Congress party leader Pawan Khera, the Supreme Court on Wednesday placed a stay on his week’s transit anticipatory bail order which was granted by the Telangana High Court in his favour. The matter revolves around a case filed by the Assam Police after a complaint from Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, wife of Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The stay came on an appeal filed by the Assam government in response to interim bail which, according to the Assam government, was outside the jurisdiction of the Telangana High Court to issue as the offences occurred in Assam. While the Supreme Court paused the bail, it clarified that Khera is still entitled to seek legal remedies through the appropriate courts in Assam, noting that today’s ruling should not prejudice any such future application.
The legal battle began after Khera held a press conference on April 5, during which he alleged that Riniki Bhuyan Sarma possessed multiple passports and held undisclosed foreign assets— claims he suggested were missing from the Chief Minister’s election affidavits. This led the police in Guwahati to register a case against Khera based on the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita law, which involves offenses such as cheating and filing false affidavits in elections.
In the hearing, the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta representing the Assam government put forth grave objections about the documents through which Khera received relief in Telangana. According to the objection, there were clear differences in an Aadhaar card presented before the court, wherein the face bore the name of Khera, while the back mentioned the address of his wife.
Taking these submissions into account, the bench noted that the matter required a more thorough examination and issued a formal notice to the Congress leader. The court also found out that while Khera had managed to obtain a seven-day protective order, he later requested an extension for three weeks from the Telangana High Court.
On a recent occasion, the Assam Police tried to interrogate Khera on charges related to corruption at his house in Delhi, but Khera could not be found there. Although the authorities said that they had seized some "incriminating" evidence from his house, the state's chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Khera had fled to Hyderabad in order to avoid being investigated.
The case is set to be heard again in three weeks following Khera’s response. For now, the suspension of his interim protection leaves the Congress leader in a precarious legal position, with the focus shifting to whether he will now approach the competent authorities in Guwahati to avoid arrest.
Also read: Khera could have been discreet about Himanta
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