Pawan Khera Moves Gauhati High Court for Anticipatory Bail in Assam FIR

The matter in Pawan Khera’s anticipatory bail plea before the Gauhati High Court arises from a criminal case registered by the Assam Police against the Congress leader. The case follows allegations made by Khera concerning Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife.

Khera has now formally approached the Gauhati High Court seeking anticipatory bail in connection with the FIR lodged by the Crime Branch of Assam Police in Guwahati. His plea has been registered and is expected to be listed before an appropriate Bench shortly.

The FIR against Khera includes serious allegations such as defamation, forgery, and criminal conspiracy. These charges stem from his public claims that Riniki Bhuyan, wife of the Assam Chief Minister, possesses multiple foreign passports and holds undisclosed assets abroad.

Earlier, Assam Police had attempted to serve notice at Khera’s residence in Delhi on April 7. However, he was not present at the time. Following this, Khera approached the Telangana High Court seeking transit anticipatory bail to secure temporary protection from arrest.

On April 10, the Telangana High Court granted him limited relief for one week. This protection was intended to allow him sufficient time to approach the appropriate court in Assam for regular anticipatory bail.

Subsequently, the Assam government challenged this order before the Supreme Court. On April 15, the Supreme Court passed an ex-parte order staying the Telangana High Court’s grant of transit anticipatory bail.

Khera then moved the Supreme Court seeking to vacate the stay and extend his protection. However, the Court declined both requests. It refused to interfere with the stay and did not grant any extension of the transit bail.

Importantly, the Supreme Court directed Khera to approach the Gauhati High Court for appropriate relief. This direction has now led to the present anticipatory bail plea filed before the High Court in Assam.

The matter is expected to raise questions around the allegations made by Khera and the legal threshold for granting anticipatory bail in cases involving defamation and related offences. The Gauhati High Court will now examine the plea in accordance with law.