New Delhi Congress leader Pawan Khera on Thursday was pulled off a plane at the Delhi airport, detained on the tarmac and later arrested, before the Supreme Court granted him interim protection and a lower court set him free on bail in the evening, capping a day of high drama that stoked a political controversy.
Khera, the chairperson of the Congress’s media and publicity wing who triggered a row last week with controversial comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, told the apex court that he will tender an unconditional apology.
“We have protected you (Khera) from the arrest but there has to be some level of discourse,” said three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud. The top court went by its 2020 judgment in TV anchor Arnab Goswami’s case, wherein multiple FIRs against him were clubbed by the court at one place, and he was granted bail.
“In order to protect the petitioner (Khera) until he applies for regular bail before the jurisdictional courts in relation to all the FIRs, we direct that till the next date of listing, the petitioner shall be released on interim bail by the court of competent magistrate in Delhi,” added the top court bench, also comprising justices MR Shah and PS Narasimha.
Later in the day, a local court in Dwarka granted interim bail to Khera on a bail bond of ₹30,000 and a surety of the same amount.
“Without furnishing a copy of FIR and notice, I was deboarded from the aircraft and arrested by Assam Police in an illegal manner. I have complete trust in the judicial system which protected my freedom of expression today,” said Khera after his release in the evening.
Last week, while raising allegations of fraud against the Adani Group and tycoon Gautam Adani, Khera had said that when a joint parliamentary committee could be set up by former prime ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, what was the problem of “Narendra Gautamdas, sorry…Narendra Damodardas Modi”. The remarks sparked a storm of criticism from the BJP even as the leader said it was a slip of the tongue. He even went on to say that the “work is like Gautam Das but name is Damodardas”.
On Thursday, the drama began in the morning at Delhi airport when Khera and other Congress leaders were boarding an IndiGo flight in Delhi on their way to a party plenary session in Raipur.
The boarding for the 11.40am Delhi-Raipur flight was nearing completion when Khera was asked to deplane, saying his baggage had been tagged wrongly. But when Khera disembarked, a Delhi Police team waiting outside told him he could not fly out of the city, prompting other Congress leaders to also step out of the flight and stage a protest on the tarmac.
“I condemn this action by BJP…they are trying to eliminate freedom of speech. Democracy is under threat,” said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
Other passengers waited in the plane as Congress leaders shouted slogans against Modi, before everyone was asked to disembark and taken back to the terminal.
“When I came down from the flight, I was told that I cannot go. Then I was told a DCP [deputy commissioner of police] will meet me,” Khera said. The Delhi Police team later handed over a document from their Assam counterparts seeking their help in detaining the leader, even as paramilitary troops swarmed the airport.
Assam Police said that on Thursday that a case against Khera was lodged at the Halflong police station by a BJP leader under several sections of Indian Penal Code including 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (spreading religious enmity), 500 (defamation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) 505 (1a) (making statement with intent to cause fear or alarm in public). Based on the complaint, Assam Police sent a team to Delhi, said Mayank Kumar, superintendent of police of Dima Hasao district in Assam. Two other similar FIRs for the same incident were also lodged in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow and Varanasi.
Amid the furore, IndiGo said a passenger was deplaned by the police and it was following the advice of authorities concerned. The Assam Police arrested Khera and applied for transit remand to take him to the northeastern state for further proceedings, even as Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi approached the Supreme Court.
“The moment when he’s taken into custody by police can be termed as arrest. The legal formalities are of course completed at police station. The court may have granted him bail but our investigation will continue as there’s no bar on that,” said Mayank Kumar, superintendent of police of Assam’s Dima Hasao district.
Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa said they received a request from Assam Police to assist in Khera’s arrest.
“Requisite local assistance was provided and upon requisition of Assam Police, accused Pawan Khera was detained from Terminal 1 of IGI Airport and has been subsequently arrested by the investigating officer (IO) concerned of Assam Police,” added Nalwa.
Singhvi mentioned the matter before the CJI within an hour of Khera’s arrest, and he was allowed to argue the matter at 3 pm.
Protecting Khera from arrest, the bench said that the reprieve will continue till February 28 while it will take up his plea for clubbing all FIRs arising out of the same incident.
The bench also sought responses from Assam and Uttar Pradesh, clarifying that Khera will have to seek regular bail from the jurisdictional court after all the cases are clubbed and transferred to one place.
“Dr Singhvi states that the petitioner (Khera) would tender an unconditional apology since it was not his intention to hurt,” the court recorded in its order, adding that Khera also undertakes that that the use of language was erroneous and that he would not stand by it.
Additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati appeared for Assam Police and opposed any relief to Khera. She said the Congress leader should be asked to approach the trial court and follow the criminal procedure code, justifying the invocation of penal charges against Khera for deliberately insulting the PM of the world’s largest democracy and creating disaffection.
Singhvi, who is also a Congress leader and a Rajya Sabha MP, called Khera’s statement unfortunate and said that he did not support crossing boundaries in public discourse.
“But it cannot lead to an arrest under these charges which, on the face of it, cannot be made out… He did a play of words which he should not have done in my personal view. But he also said he made a mistake and added he was genuinely confused. But any amount of political dialogue or free speech cannot lead to invocation of sections 153A and 295A,” added the senior lawyer.
At this point, ASG Bhati countered Singhvi’s contentions and said the penal charges were suitably invoked because Khera deliberately mocked the PM. “This was not said by mistake. Look at the demeanour of this person and the manner in which he said it. It is a derogatory remark made, to incite disaffection against the PM. After all he is the duly elected PM of the country,” said Bhati, who also showed the video of the February 17 presser to the bench on her laptop.
The bench, however, went by its 2020 judgment in TV anchor Goswami’s case wherein multiple FIRs against him were clubbed by the court at one place, and said it would entertain Khera’s plea on the aspect of clubbing of the FIRs. Till all the FIRs are transferred to one place, the bench said, Khera will be protected from arrest.
Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit out at the Congress.
“Whatever is done is done lawfully. Congress leaders should not live under this misconception that they are above the law,” BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told reporters.