Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday, April 9, reserved its order on the transit anticipatory bail plea filed by Congress leader Pawan Khera in a forgery and criminal conspiracy case registered against him by the Assam Police.
Justice K Sujana heard the matter for over an hour before reserving her verdict.
Assam Police had booked Khera following his recent claims that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan holds multiple foreign passports and undisclosed assets abroad. The case charges him with alleged defamation, forgery and criminal conspiracy.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Khera, told the court that a slew of offences had been invoked merely for a press conference in which his client raised allegations against the Assam Chief Minister. He termed it a case of “political vendetta” amounting to “jungle raj.”
“Are we living in the wild west, where for a complaint like this, you have to arrest me? Just to harass me, you have added every offence that can be imagined,” Singhvi argued.
He also took strong exception to Assam Police sending around 100 personnel to Delhi to arrest Khera, describing it as essentially a defamation case. “I doubt if a terrorist plants a bomb, 100 people from Assam will land the next day,” he submitted.
On the question of flight risk, Singhvi said Khera was a prominent public figure who regularly appeared on television and had strong ties to Hyderabad. “My wife resides in Hyderabad permanently and I also reside here often. I am not a flight risk,” he argued.
Singhvi also pointed out that the Supreme Court had earlier granted Khera temporary protection from arrest in a similar case registered by Assam Police following a press conference in Maharashtra.
Assam Advocate General Devajit Saikia rebutted the contentions, denying any political vendetta and questioning the maintainability of the plea before the Telangana High Court.
“He resides in Delhi. I don’t see any single document or pleading saying he is a resident of Telangana. He could have even moved a court in Delhi. There is not a single whisper about why he cannot come to Assam and file for anticipatory bail,” Saikia submitted.
The Assam AG also alleged that Khera had committed forgery and was “playing fraud” on the court. He maintained that Assam was not a banana republic and there was no threat to Khera’s life that would prevent him from seeking anticipatory bail there.
The bench also questioned why Khera could not move the Assam court for anticipatory bail even while residing in Hyderabad.
Khera’s Delhi residence was searched by the Assam Police on April 7 following a political firestorm that erupted after the Congress leader held two press conferences in Delhi and Guwahati on April 5. Khera and Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi alleged that Sarma’s wife holds three passports of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Antigua and Barbuda and properties in Dubai, as well as a company registered in Wyoming, United States.
Sarma’s wife subsequently lodged a first information report (FIR) with the Crime Branch of the Assam Police against Khera. Sarma also filed a separate case in Guwahati seeking action against what he called “fake allegations.”
The FIR was 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.
Pawan Khera is married to Kota Neelima, a fellow Congress colleague and a distinguished author, researcher, political commentator and artist.
This post was last modified on April 9, 2026 6:47 pm