Congress backs Pawan Khera, says will challenge Gauhati HC order in Supreme Court

The Congress on Saturday came out in solidarity with its leader Pawan Khera and said the verdict of the Gauhati High Court rejecting his anticipatory bail petition would be challenged in the Supreme Court.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh expressed confidence that justice will prevail over the politics of threat and intimidation.

"The entire Indian National Congress stands solidly in solidarity with Pawan Khera, the Chairman of its Media and Publicity Department. The verdict of the Guwahati High Court is in the process of being challenged in the Supreme Court," Ramesh said in a post on X.

"We are confident that justice will prevail over the politics of threat, intimidation, and harassment," he also said.

The Gauhati High Court on Friday rejected Khera's anticipatory bail petition, moved in connection with his allegations that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife possessed multiple passports and undisclosed properties abroad.

The single bench of Justice Parthiv Jyoti Saikia rejected Khera's application filed on Monday after the Congress leader was asked by the Supreme Court to approach the Gauhati High Court.

Following the allegations made in a press conference, Sarma's wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, filed criminal cases against Khera at the Guwahati Crime Branch Police Station under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The court said that it is of the opinion that under the given circumstances, this case cannot be termed as one of 'defamation simpliciter', a plain claim of defamation without any accompanying factors such as malice or conspiracy.

There are materials for a prima facie case under Section 339 of the BNS, which addresses the possession of forged documents or electronic records, it said, adding that the petitioner has been avoiding police investigation.

Custodial interrogation is necessary in this case to find out who his associates are, who collected those documents for him and how and from where they had collected those documents, the court said.

Initially, after Khera was booked, he moved the Telangana High Court, as the Congress leader is a resident of Hyderabad.

The Telangana High Court granted him a seven-day transit anticipatory bail, but the Assam Police moved the Supreme Court against it, securing an interim order to stay the grant of anticipatory transit bail and asked Khera to approach the Gauhati High Court.