The Gauhati High Court on Friday rejected the anticipatory bail application filed by All India Congress Committee (AICC) media and publicity chairperson Pawan Khera in connection with an FIR registered by the Assam Police’s Crime Branch for forgery of documents targeting Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and his family.
A single-judge bench of Justice Parthivjyoti Saikia passed the order after reserving its verdict on April 21, following marathon arguments from both sides. The court turned down Khera’s plea for pre-arrest bail in the case lodged on a complaint by Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The court said that the custodial interrogation of Pawan Khera is necessary to find the persons who had provided him false documents to claim that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife has three foreign passports and a company in the United States. The court added that if Khera had made the allegations only against the Chief Minister, it would have been called political rhetoric, but he dragged an innocent woman into the controversy.
The court stated, “The husband of Smt. Riniki Bhuyan Sarma is in politics and is the Chief Minister of Assam. But Smt. Riniki Bhuyan Sarma is not in politics, If Mr. Khera had raised those accusations against the Chief Minister of the State, then the matter would have been a political rhetoric. But in order to gain political mileage, Mr. Khera has dragged an innocent lady into the controversy.”
Justice Parthivjyoti Saikia agreed with the prosecution that it was not a simple case of defamation, adding that Khera was yet to prove his claims. The judge said, “He has not yet proved beyond doubt that Smt. Riniki Bhuyan Sarma has passports of three other countries. He also has not yet proved beyond doubt that she had opened a company in the United States of America and invested a huge amount of money.”
The FIR, registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including sections relating to defamation, cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy, stems from Khera’s public allegations that Sharma holds multiple foreign passports of the UAE, Egypt and Antigua and Barbuda and that the Sarma family owns undisclosed assets abroad, including a limited liability company in the United States. Khera had made the claims during a press conference just days before the Assam elections.
Himanta Biswa Sarma and Riniki Bhuyan Sharma had denied all the allegations and pointed out multiple discrepancies in the documents presented by Khera, showing that they were fake. Within days, Assam BJP located the original documents available online, which were used by Congress by inserting the name and other details of the CM’s wife. Two American companies, allegedly in the name of the CM’s family, were also found to be registered online, one a day before the press conference and the other after the press conference. Assam BJP had created a similar company in the name of Gaurav Gogoi and his wife to show how easily it can be done.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Khera, had argued that the case was politically motivated and that his client was not a flight risk. He contended that no custodial interrogation was necessary and urged the court to grant protection from arrest. The Assam government, represented by Advocate General Devajit Lon Saikia, opposed the plea, maintaining that the offences were serious in nature and not limited to mere defamation. He said that the case was more extensive and involved serious allegations including forgery of papers and documents.
The FIR has been registered under Sections 175 (false statement in connection with an election), 35, 36, 318 (Cheating), 338, (forgery of valuable will, security etc.), 337 (Forgery of record of Court or of public register, etc.), 340 (Forged document or electronic record and using it as genuine), 352 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 356(Defamation) of BNS at Guwahati Crime Branch Police Station.
This is the latest twist in the ongoing Pawan Khera row. Khera had earlier got an interim anticipatory bail from Telangana High Court. But the Supreme Court had stayed it after Assam Police challenged it. It was found that Pawan Khera had submitted a forged copy of his Aadhar card to get bail from Telangana, which does not have jurisdiction over the case, as he is a resident of Delhi and the case is registered in Assam. The Congress leader later approached the Supreme Court for protection from arrest, but the apex court declined the plea and directed him to seek appropriate relief before the Gauhati High Court.
Assam Police had visited Khera’s residence in Delhi on April 7 but he was not present there, as he had moved to Hyderabad. After that, Assam police also reached Hyderabad, but could not meet him. He has not made any public appearance after that, although he has released some videos from an unknown location.
