Pawan Kheda’s bail: Himant wife passport dispute: Why did SC put a stay on Pawan Kheda’s transit anticipatory bail? india news
New Delhi: In a blow to Congress leader Pawan Khera, the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Telangana High Court order granting him one week’s transit anticipatory bail in connection with the charges. Assam Riniki Bhuiyan Sarma, wife of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.However, the top court said the Congress leader can seek anticipatory bail from the court having jurisdiction, meaning the court in Assam where the FIR was filed.
The apex court’s intervention came after the Assam government challenged the high court’s April 10 order, arguing that Khera had approached the wrong forum for relief.Appearing for Assam Police, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta questioned the maintainability of the petition before the Telangana High Court, citing what he termed “lack of territorial jurisdiction”. He said the FIR was lodged in Assam and Kheda did not explain why he could not seek anticipatory bail there.Mehta also pointed out that Khera had sought anticipatory bail in Telangana without clearly establishing his presence in the state, adding that jurisdiction cannot be conferred by “merely possessing some property”.He told the bench that it was a case of “complete abuse of process” and “choosing the forum”.During the hearing, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari said that Kheda had cited his wife’s residence in Hyderabad as the basis. However, the Solicitor General countered that Kheda’s Aadhaar records also showed a Delhi address, and occasional travel or property ownership could not justify jurisdiction, Live Law reported.The Telangana High Court had earlier granted limited transit anticipatory bail to Khera for one week. The court found that the apprehension of his arrest appeared to be “reasonable and supported by the material on record”, while imposing several conditions, including cooperation in the investigation and bar on making public statements that could adversely affect the investigation.The Assam government challenged the order, arguing that Kheda had not shown any solid reason for bypassing the Assam courts, where the case was registered.The FIR, lodged at the Guwahati Crime Branch police station, pertains to Khera’s April 5 allegations that Riniki Bhuyan Sarma had multiple foreign passports and undeclared foreign assets, claims which the Sarma family rejected as “false and fabricated”.
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The case has been registered under provisions of the Indian Judicial Code, including sections related to making false statements and fraud in connection with elections.