Telangana HC Grants Pawan Khera One-Week Transit Anticipatory Bail

The Telangana High Court on Friday granted Congress leader and spokesperson Pawan Khera transit anticipatory bail for one week in connection with a case arising from an FIR lodged by Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The complaint relates to allegations that she possessed multiple passports.

Justice K. Sujana, while delivering the order, stated that the petitioner had been granted one week to approach the appropriate court and file a regular anticipatory bail application. The court also directed that Khera be given protection from arrest for seven days, subject to certain conditions.

The FIR against Khera is registered at Guwahati Crime Branch police station, under Sections 175(false statement in connection with an election), 35, 36, 318 (Cheating), 338, (forgery of valuable will, security etc.), 337(Forgery of record of Court or of public register, etc.), 340(Forged document or electronic record and using it as genuine), 352(Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 356(Defamation) of BNS.

The case stems from remarks made by Khera on April 5, in which he alleged that Sarma’s wife held multiple foreign passports and owned undisclosed overseas assets that were not mentioned in the Chief Minister’s election affidavit. In response, Sarma criticised the Congress party for failing to verify the documents on which the allegations were based.

Khera subsequently filed for anticipatory bail in Hyderabad, citing his residence there. Representing the Assam Police, Advocate General Devajit Saikia argued that Khera posed a flight risk, claiming he had avoided police by travelling from Delhi to Hyderabad when officers visited his residence in the capital.

The case was formally registered in Assam following Khera’s public statements, leading to charges including defamation, forgery, cheating, criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy. Police reportedly visited his Delhi residence on April 7, but he was not present at the time. He then approached the Telangana High Court seeking transit anticipatory bail to avoid arrest while applying for relief before the competent court in Assam.

Appearing on Khera’s behalf, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi contended that the proceedings were politically motivated and reflected an excessive application of criminal law. He questioned the FIR, arguing that multiple charges had been added despite the complaint arising from a press conference.

Saikia, however, challenged the maintainability of the petition in Hyderabad, questioning why Khera had not approached a court in Assam or elsewhere. He maintained that there was no indication of any threat to Khera in Assam and rejected suggestions to the contrary.

The legal dispute follows Khera’s claim that he had not been provided with a copy of the FIR and that the allegations did not constitute a valid criminal case. He further asserted that the charges were driven by political considerations.