Congress leader Pawan Khera gets interim bail from Supreme Court

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• Feb 23, 2023 | Dhupali Das

The Supreme Court granted interim relief to Congress leader Pawan Khera, who was arrested by Assam police from Delhi ...

Digital Desk: The Supreme Court on Thursday granted interim bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera, hours after the Assam Police arrested him from the Delhi Airport for making derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Thursday morning, Khera was first stopped from flying out of Delhi to Chhattisgarh's Raipur, and then detained over "derogatory remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

In a press conference last week, Khera called the Prime Minister as "Narendra Gautamdas Modi" instead of "Narendra Damodardas Modi," "Damodardas" being his late father’s name.

When corrected, Khera remarked on the Hindenburg-Gautam Adani row, "Name is Damodardas, but deeds are of Gautamdas."With the following outrage over his statements, Khera later tweeted an apology, saying he "genuinely got confused."

Khera's remarks sparked instant FIRs in Lucknow and Varanasi, as well as one in Assam, which resulted in his arrest on Thursday.

Defending Khera, lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi sought temporary relief for the leader as well as the consolidation of similar FIRs filed across the country.

Singhvi also told the court that Khera had already apologized, stating his statements were a "mistake, a slip of the tongue."

The top court then issued notices to the Assam Police and the Uttar Pradesh Police in response to Khera's request that the different FIRs be combined. It stated that Khera would be released on interim bail until the next hearing date and directed the Dwarka Court to grant it.

The arrest drew a barrage of criticism from Congress, with leaders slamming it as dictatorial.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, "Are the Prime Minister and Home Minister unaware of this incident?. India's situation is deteriorating day by day. Democracy is under jeopardy, and the rule of law has been thrown into disarray. They (BJP) blame Indira Gandhi for the emergency, but what they are doing is even worse."

"Himanta Biswa Sarma is attempting to prove that he is a loyalist. A fake FIR has been filed against Pawan Khera. What crime did he commit? We will fight for the truth, and they will not be able to silence us. We'll take this to court," Congress MP Randeep Surjewala said before the matter went to court.