The Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon granted interim bail to Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera in the case of his remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Adani-Hindenburg row.
The judgment was issued by a bench consisting of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justices PS Narasimha and MR Shah, after Khera filed a petition with the Supreme Court shortly after being detained by Assam Police at the Delhi airport on Thursday.
In addition, the Court requested a response from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Assam on Khera’s request to combine various first information reports (FIRs) filed against him in those states.
Khera has been charged with violating Indian Penal Code Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, race, place of birth, etc.) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) (IPC).
He was arrested at the Delhi airport on Thursday after being deplaned from a trip to Chattisgarh’s Around 50 members of Congress staged a protest on the tarmac, refusing to allow the airplane to take off.
Pawan Khera, a prominent Congress spokesperson, was compelled to board another flight. He was traveling to Raipur with a large group of Congress leaders for an All India Congress Committee conference (AICC).
He was apprehended at the airport by Assam Police, who arrived with an FIR, or First Information Report. He will be presented in a Delhi court and will be taken to Assam on transit remand, ANI reported.
Several of Congress leaders walked off the plane and protested on the tarmac at Delhi International Airport, chanting slogans and conducting a sit-in directly close to the jet.
During a recent news conference, Khera misspelled Prime Minister Modi’s name when calling for a joint parliamentary investigation into the Adani-Hindenburg row.
“If Narasimha Rao could form a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee), if Atal Bihari Vajpayee could form a JPC, then what problem does Narendra Gautam Das…sorry Damodardas…Modi have?” he said, appearing to fumble upon the middle name with a colleague sitting beside him.
The BJP has demanded Khera’s arrest on charges of insulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After a BJP representative submitted a police complaint, an FIR was lodged.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on February 20 called the remarks ‘pathetic’.
“Make no mistake- pathetic remarks by courtier Pawan Khera on PM’s father have blessings of the top levels of Congress, which is full of entitlement and disdain against a person of humble origins being PM. India will not forget or forgive these horrible remarks of Congressmen,” Himanta had tweeted.
IndiGo Airline in a statement said: “A passenger was deplaned by the police at the Delhi airport from Raipur-bound flight 6E 204. Some other passengers have also decided to deboard on their own accord. We are following the advice of the concerned authorities. The flight is delayed as of now and we regret the inconvenience caused to other passengers.”
Khera stated that he was initially informed that there was a problem with his luggage. “I was told that there was a problem with my luggage, despite the fact that I just had hand luggage. They said you couldn’t fly. The DCP (Deputy Commissioner of Police) will thereafter meet with you. I’ve been anticipating this moment for quite some time. There is no indication of law and order “He stated.
The grand old party reacted very strongly to the development. Party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate called it ‘dictatorship’.
“Assam Police is arresting Pawan Kheda ji and taking him away. What crime has he committed that he has been arrested? If this is not dictatorship then what is?” she said.
“Modi government is acting like a bunch of goons by deplaning Pawan Khera from the Delhi-Raipur flight and preventing him from joining the AICC Plenary. Using a flimsy FIR to restrict his movement and silence him is a shameful, unacceptable act. The entire party stands with Pawan ji,” Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal tweeted KC Venugopal.
