The Supreme Court on Thursday directed a Delhi court to grant interim bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera after he was arrested by Assam police in connection with alleged derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said that upon being produced before the competent magistrate in Delhi, Khera would be released on interim bail. (Also Read | ‘Your bag has a wrong tag’: How Pawan Khera was taken into custody)
Khera was on his way to Raipur for the Congress plenary session when he was asked to disembark from the IndiGo flight at Delhi airport and was detained by Delhi Police. He was subsequently arrested by Assam Police over a case registered at Haflong police station under various sections of the IPC, including 153A (disturbing religious harmony) 153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national interest), 500 (punishment for defamation) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), for his alleged remarks against the prime minister.
The Congress functionary approached the Supreme Court seeking relief in multiple FIRs lodged against him in Assam, and Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow and Varanasi for his alleged remarks against Prime Minister Modi.
Khera had recently distorted Prime Minister Modi’s full name, in an apparent swipe over the row involving business tycoon Gautam Adani. He, however, maintained that it was merely a slip of tongue and one should not read much into it.
Khera’s party colleague and senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi submitted in the apex court that the language used during the press conference was erroneous and that he wouldn’t stand by it. He also said that the petitioner would also tender an unconditional apology.
“He (Khera) has made statements in a press conference. He has made certain statements which I cannot say in the court but I personally would not have made,”
Singhvi, however, argued that the multiple FIRs in different states was deliberate harassment and urged the apex court to consolidate all FIRs into one jurisdiction.
Chandrachud told Singhvi that his client has been granted protection but “there has to be some level of discourse.”
The apex court issued notices to the states of Assam and Uttar Pradesh seeking their responses on Khera’s plea seeking the clubbing of multiple FIRs lodged against him at Assam, Lucknow and Varanasi for his alleged remarks against the prime minister.
