SC Grants Interim Bail to Cong Leader Pawan Khera; Orders Clubbing of FIRs against Him

New Delhi: Supreme Court granted interim bail to Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera on Thursday. The apex court issued notices to Assam Police and UP Police on Congress leader Pawan Khera’s plea seeking clubbing of FIRs filed against him. The SC said, till the next date of hearing, the petitioner will be released on interim bail by Dwarka court.

Pawan Khera was given this interim bail a few hours after his dramatic arrest from the Delhi airport on Thursday. He was deplaned from a flight to Chhattisgarh’s Raipur and arrested by Assam police on charges of an alleged insult to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Khera was arrested over his controversial comments at a press conference recently. He had flubbed PM Modi’s name while demanding a joint parliamentary probe 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 confirm the middle name with a colleague.

The Congress argued in the Supreme Court that it was a “slip of tongue” and Khera had apologised.

“I for one don’t believe in crossing boundaries. But if you have crossed boundaries, this can’t be the reaction. It was unfortunate. He did a play on words which he shouldn’t have as per me. “I genuinely got confused whether it is Damodardas or Gautamdas.” This came on television. He also said I made a mistake,” said lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

The BJP leaders alleged that Khera’s fumble was deliberate.