The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed interim protection from arrest for Congress leader Pawan Khera in connection with a First Information Report filed in Assam over allegations that Prime Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, was holding foreign passports.
A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandorkar stayed the April 9 order of a single-judge bench of the Telangana High Court, granting interim relief to Khera for one week. The apex court said the matter should not be considered as an impediment to Khera moving the competent court in Assam for anticipatory bail.
The Supreme Court issued notice to Khera on Assam Police’s petition challenging the High Court order. “The implementation of the impugned order will remain pending. In the event that the petitioner applies for anticipatory bail before a court having jurisdiction in the State of Assam, while deciding this application, the order passed by this court will have no effect,” the high court said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared before the Assam Police, said that Khaira approached the Supreme Court on the basis of “forged” documents. He said that the alleged crime, namely the press conference in which Khaira made the accusations, took place in Assam. He added that the case was registered in Assam, yet Khera chose to move the Telangana High Court to seek anticipatory bail.
Mehta said Khaira had not shown any reason why he should not seek compensation from the courts in Assam. “It’s a complete abuse of process [Khera] He has already tried forum shopping or forum selection.
Mehta said Khaira justified the transfer of the Telangana High Court, saying that his wife resided in Hyderabad and he had visited and stayed in the city often. He added that Kaira’s Aadhaar card had his residential address in New Delhi.
Mehta said the allegation that his wife resides in Hyderabad does not automatically mean that the Telangana High Court has jurisdiction to preside over the case. “Merely renting or owning a property somewhere cannot confer territorial jurisdiction [upon the courts there]Mehta said.
The Supreme Court noted that Khaira had sought regular bail before the Telangana High Court even while the case was being filed in Guwahati. It observed that the material on record, including address details of Khera’s wife, “does not prima facie support the invocation of jurisdiction in Telangana”.
The court noted that Khaira sought an extension of the interim protection granted to him for another three weeks before issuing notices and staying the Supreme Court order.
Khaira, represented by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, asserted that the case amounted, at best, to the level of defamation and did not warrant arrest. Sarma was accused of political vendetta.
Assam Police said the allegations against Khaira involve forgery and fabrication of documents and are against any pre-arrest protection.
