The Supreme Court on Friday rejected Congress leader Pawan Khera’s plea to extend the transit anticipatory bail earlier granted to him by the Telangana High Court till Tuesday on the ground that it would allow him to approach any court of jurisdiction in Assam in a case where Khera allegedly leveled false allegations against the wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
However, a bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar clarified its earlier order in which it set aside the one-week anticipatory bail granted to Kher by the Telangana High Court to the extent that the same would not have any adverse effect on the jurisdictional court to decide on Kher’s plea.
The court further clarified that neither the high court order granting relief to Khere nor the high court order staying the relief stands in the way of the Assam court hearing and deciding the matter.
“The court deciding the application must not be adversely affected by any order granting transit bail or otherwise. This means that when an application for anticipatory bail is filed in a competent court, that court will decide the suit on its merits, uninfluenced by any previous order. In view of the above, the respondent is at liberty to approach the competent court. In case the court does not work in accordance with the law, a suit is required. the above comments, the plea is dismissed,” the Court said.
This comes after the Assam Police approached the Supreme Court against the Telangana High Court’s decision to grant anticipatory bail for transit for a period of one week from April 10, subject to conditions. According to the bail order, Pawan Khera has to approach the competent court of jurisdiction in Assam and seek suitable relief in accordance with law.
The Telangana High Court granted Kher a week’s anticipatory bail in a case filed by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, on allegations of leaking passports and assets.
He alleged that CM Sarma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma holds three passports from India, UAE and Egypt and owns undisclosed luxury properties in Dubai along with a company in Wyoming, USA.
The Sarma family strongly denied the claims, calling the documents “AI-generated fabrications” circulated by Pakistani social media groups.
