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The Supreme Court on Thursday came to the rescue of Congress leader Pawan Khera by giving him interim bail after he was taken into the custody by the Assam police at the time of boarding a morning flight at the Delhi airport for Raipur.
Khera, along with his other party colleagues were to attend Congress plenary session at Raipur. He got bail in a case where he is accused of making derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Archana Beniwal gave the interim bail to Congress spokesperson Khera on a bond of ₹30,000 and one surety of the like amount.
Khera was whisked away by the cops from the domestic airport amidst strong protest by party leaders at the tarmac itself and produced before the court. The 11.45 am flight was delayed due to the ruckus caused at the tarmac. CMM Beniwal passed the order around 6 pm after receiving the Supreme Court verdict on Khera’s bail.
‘Discourse needed’
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, who was heading the three-member bench, said, “There has to be some level of discourse, we are protecting you” after Congress rushed to the Apex Court for an urgent hearing to get Khera out of the clutches of Assam police and also sought clubbing of the cases registered against him in different parts of the country. The SC gave interim bail to him till Tuesday when the bail matter would come up again for hearing.
Addressing media recently, Congress spokesperson Khera had mispronounced PM Narendra Modi’s name in his demand for a parliamentary enquiry to unravel truth behind the Adani-Hindenburg row.
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi who was arguing Khera’s case in SC told Justices that he has already apologised for fumbling Modi’s name which, according to them, happened due to “slip of tongue”.
The Chief Justice also questioned the prosecution for presenting it as a case of “religious disharmony”. “Our lordships may see the facial expressions and the laughs all around. This is the PM of the country,” argued Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati.
A case was registered against Khera at Haflong police station in Assam under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. “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,” Khera said after getting interim bail.
The BJP, however, maintained that his gaffe was deliberate.
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