Pawan Khera gets anticipatory bail from SC in case against Assam CM's wife

The Supreme Court granted anticipatory bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera in a defamation case involving Assam CM's wife. The court observed the allegations were prima facie politically motivated and did not warrant custodial interrogation.

SC Grants Bail, Cites 'Political Rivalry'

The Supreme Court granted anticipatory bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera in a forgery and defamation case linked to allegations of making false statements against the wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma.

A bench of Justice JK Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar, on Thursday, observed that the allegations and counter-allegations in the case were prima facie politically motivated and seemingly influenced by such political rivalry, rather than disclosing a situation warranting custodial interrogation. The Court further noted that the veracity of the allegations can be examined during the course of the trial.

"In our view, the observations as made by the High Court in the order impugned are not based on a correct appreciation of all the material which has been placed on record and appear to be erroneous, in particular shifting the burden on the accused. In addition, without alleging any offence under Section 339 of BNS and merely on the basis of a statement made by the learned Advocate General, observations made regarding Section 339 of BNS do not appear to be correct. Accordingly, the present appeal stands allowed with the following directions," the Court noted.

Bail Conditions and Directives

The apex court directed that Khera be released on anticipatory bail in the event of his arrest in the concerned case, subject to reasonable conditions imposed by the Investigating Officer (IO). It also directed Khera to fully cooperate with the investigation and appear before the police whenever required during the course of the inquiry. The Court also restrained him from influencing witnesses or tampering with evidence during the investigation or trial, and prohibited him from leaving India without prior permission from the competent court. Further, it allowed the trial court to impose any additional conditions if necessary. Moreover, the Court clarified that its observations are only for deciding the bail application and should not affect the merits of the case, which must be decided independently in accordance with the law.

Background of the Case

The Congress leader had approached the Supreme Court against the rejection of his anticipatory bail by the Gauhati High Court in a case where an FIR has been registered by the Assam police against Khera for allegedly making false allegations against Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, the wife of Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The Gauhati High Court had denied him relief on April 24.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had also rejected Khera's plea seeking to extend the transit anticipatory bail, granted to him earlier by the Telangana High Court, on the ground of enabling him to approach any jurisdictional court in Assam to seek relief.

However, the apex court had clarified its earlier order in which it had stayed the one-week transit anticipatory bail granted to Khera by the Telangana High Court to the extent that the same will not have any adverse influence on the jurisdictional court, which would decide over Khera's plea. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)