Pawan Khera bail paused: Supreme Court stays interim relief in Riniki Bhuyan Sarma defamation case

The Supreme Court has paused the interim bail of Congress leader Pawan Khera for the second time in a defamation case filed by Riniki Bhuyan Sarma. The case involves allegations of multiple passports and foreign assets.

A bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar on Friday confirmed their decision of maintaining the stay against the Telangana High Court order that allowed Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera to receive transit bail. Hence, this will leave Khera open to arrest by the Assam Police due to a defamation and criminal charge filed against him in Guwahati, India.

The Supreme Court stated that the current appeal from the petitioner involved a number of procedural deficiencies. The Court expressed disappointment with processes on the part of the petitioner, specifically highlighting instances where there were incorrect documents submitted to the courts, including an incorrect [Aadhaar Redacted] document that would not be included in any court records.

Despite the rejection of the bail application, the Supreme Court allowed Khera the ability to immediately file for anticipatory bail in the Guwahati High Court based solely on the merits of the action (i.e., without being biased by any observations made during these proceedings) and in accordance with the applicable law.

In making his case, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi (for Khera) requested the Supreme Court also confer Khera protection from arrest until next Tuesday, as Khera intends to file his bail application on Monday. The Supreme Court denied this request.

When the court turned down the request for a stay to protect Khera, alleging he is a terrorist. Previously Singhvi stated that the stay order had been ex parte and requested that the order be lifted immediately.

Legal conflict origin: The 'three passports' allegations

Allegations against Riniki Bhuyan Sarma ('CM’s wife'), made by Khera during a press conference on April 4, raised serious allegations regarding the CM's wife and have intensified the legal conflict. These include:

Allegations of multiple citizenship: Khera alleged that the CM's wife holds citizenship in three different countries.

Allegations of foreign assets: Khera also alleged that CM's wife owns luxury real estate in Dubai and that the property is owned by a company based in the United States.

Allegations of criminal activity: Khera alleged that the CM has been involved with the CM's wife in criminal activities.

The Sarma family has categorically denied all of the allegations in Khera's statements, claiming all of the documents submitted by Khera are "AI-generated forgeries" and have been derived from malicious social media sources.

The path to the apex court

The Telangana High Court reviewed Khera's request for transit anticipatory bail and granted Khera one week to appeal to the appropriate courts in Assam beginning April 10. Justice K. Sujana found Khera had "a legitimate fear of being arrested" in the wake of the search-and-seizure operations conducted against Khera.

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