‘No need to humiliate me by arrest’: South Carolina’s Pawan Khera in passport dispute case

NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court on Thursday stayed its order on Congress leader Pawan Khera’s anticipatory bail plea, telling the court that there was “no need to humiliate him by arrest” in the passport dispute case related to the wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.During the hearing, Hera told the court that charges against him were pending. He further said, “Some of the terms against me are bailable, others do not require arrest.”Kaira also pointed out that if he was not granted anticipatory bail in the case registered against him in Assam, “then the purpose of pre-arrest bail would be lost.”A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandurkar reserved the verdict after hearing arguments from both sides.Senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Khaira, said the case did not merit custodial interrogation and reiterated that no arrest was necessary.Opposing the plea, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Assam government, told the court that Kaira produced a “fake” and “tampered” copy of the chief minister’s wife’s passport. He also claimed that Kayla had been absconding and circulating the video, while insisting that claims of multiple nationalities were false.The case arose out of allegations leveled by Khera against Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, following which a criminal complaint was lodged against him with the Guwahati Crime Branch under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.Kaira had challenged an April 24 order of the Gauhati High Court rejecting his anticipatory bail.Earlier, the Telangana High Court granted him seven-day transit anticipatory bail. However, the Assam Police approached the Supreme Court against the relief, which subsequently stayed the transit bail and directed Kaira to approach the Gauhati High Court.The Supreme Court is now expected to pass an order on Keira’s anticipatory bail plea in due course.