Assam CM made remarks like 'constitutional Rambo', says Pawan Khera; SC reserves order

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera on Wednesday likened Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to a "constitutional cowboy or a Rambo" in the Supreme Court for his alleged remarks against him in relation to a criminal case.

The top court reserved the verdict on the anticipatory bail of Khera in the criminal case which was registered against him for alleging that Sarma's wife possessed multiple passports and undisclosed offshore properties.

A bench of justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandurkar, hearing a plea of Khera challenging the Gauhati High Court verdict dismissing his pre-arrest bail petition, was told by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi that the chief minister has been making several objectionable remarks against the Congress leader.

Referring to alleged intemperate remarks of Sarma, Singhvi apprehended that Khera will not get fair treatment if allowed to be arrested in the case.

"Dr BR Ambedkar would turn in his grave if he had imagined that a constitutional office holder would speak like a constitutional cowboy or a constitutional Rambo," Singhvi submitted.

Referring to alleged intemperate remarks of Sarma, Singhvi apprehended that Khera will not get fair treatment if allowed to be arrested in the case.

He termed the case as "unprecedented" as certain "unprintable" statements were made by the "boss of the boss of the boss of the prosecutor" while referring to the Assam chief minister.

Singhvi said that Sarma has threatened that Khera will spend the rest of his life in an Assam jail even when the core of the case is allegations of defamation and reputational damage.

"Let me assume I am ultimately convicted. But where is the necessity of arrest? What is there in the case which can be done without an arrest," Singhvi asked, adding that part of sections invoked against him are bailable while others don't require his arrest.

"He is not a flight risk. He is not interfering with the evidence and there is no allegation of non-cooperation in the case," Singhvi said, adding, "Why is it necessary to humiliate with a custodial interrogation? Why did 50-60 Assam policemen landed in Nizamuddin area to arrest Khera, as if he is a terrorist.

Singhvi urged that personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution must be protected and highlighted that Khera was not a hardened criminal but an active politician, and the case was essentially a political response to certain political allegations raised by the petitioner.

Singhvi urged that personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution must be protected and highlighted that Khera was not a hardened criminal but an active politician, and the case was essentially a political response to certain political allegations raised by the petitioner.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Assam government, opposed the plea and said Khera showed fake and doctored copies of passports of the chief minister's wife.

He said Khera has been absconding and releasing videos and all the allegations about the chief minister's wife holding multiple citizenships are false.

Mehta added that certain fake documents regarding a company registered in the USA were also shown and the custodial interrogation of Khera was necessary to ascertain who his accomplices were, and to understand if there were foreign hands involved in fabricating the passports in the name of the complainant.

He added that the complete information gathered by the police cannot be revealed at this juncture.

"As an investigating agency, I would like to know how you forged the documents? What was your intent? If you did not forge, who gave it to you? Who were the foreign elements who were interested in interfering with our elections? Custodial interrogation is qualitatively different from other forms of interrogation," Mehta said.

Following the allegations, Sarma's wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, filed criminal cases against Khera and others at the Guwahati Crime Branch police station under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The Telangana High Court had earlier granted Khera a seven-day transit anticipatory bail, but Assam Police moved the Supreme Court against it.

The apex court passed an interim order to stay the grant of anticipatory transit bail and asked Khera to approach the Gauhati High Court.