"Jungle raj, wild west": Pawan Khera to Telangana High Court on Assam Police FIR

The Telangana High Court on Thursday reserved its order in the transit anticipatory bail plea filed by Congress leader Pawan Khera in a case of forgery and criminal conspiracy registered against him by Assam Police.

Assam Police has booked Khera in a case of alleged defamation, forgery and criminal conspiracy. The case was registered following his recent claims that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan holds multiple foreign passports and undisclosed assets abroad.

Khera's lawyer, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, said that the offences invoked against Khera reeked of political vendetta and tantamount to "jungle raj" and "wild west".

"Are we living in the wild west where for a complaint like this, you have to arrest me? In the FIR, every imaginable offence is listed. The allegation is that I held a press conference and I made defamatory statements against you. Just to harass me you have added every offence that can be imagined," Singhvi said.

"I am a political opponent. If you start arresting people like this, this becomes nothing but jungle raj," he added.

Assam Advocate General Devajit Saikia countered the claims and also alleged forgery by Khera. Saikia also asked why Khera has moved the Telangana High Court though he resides in Delhi and the case has been lodged in Assam.

"There is no indication that he cannot come to Assam. Assam is not a banana republic. There is no threat to his life"

Justice K Sujana heard the matter for over an hour before reserving her verdict.

According to media reports, Assam Police visited Khera’s residence in Delhi on April 7 but he was not present there. 

Khera later approached the Telangana High Court seeking transit anticipatory bail.

During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Khera, told the Court that a slew of offences have been invoked against Khera for a press conference held by him in which he raised allegations against the Chief Minister of Assam.

On the bail aspect, Singhvi pointed out that Khera is not a criminal but a prominent political figure and is not a flight risk.

"My wife resides in Hyderabad permanently and I also reside here often. I have submitted proof. I am not a flight risk. I am a prominent political figure. I am not a habitual offender or criminal. Even if you assume all the allegations are true, I am not a flight risk. I am an active politician. I can cooperate. The whole world knows me because I am on television," it was argued.

Singhvi said that the object of the case against Khera is to silence him and scare him.

"Why can't you do the same thing without arresting me? Answer is simple, because you want to harass me, you want to scare me, you want to intimidate me. You want to silence me. This complaint is registered at midnight, 12:49 a.m on sixth, which is just after midnight on April 7. And this is all on camera, nothing I'm saying is off the record. Hundred policemen come to one of the houses where I live in Delhi," he contended.

He also took strong objection to the Assam Police sending 100 personnel to Delhi to arrest him in a defamation case.

"We are not living in an age of constitutional cowboys. We are not living in an age of malice, whipping out things from the holster and sending 100 people from Assam to Nizamuddin for what the complaint says is a defamation case," Singhvi submitted.

Singhvi also took objection to the language used by the Chief Minister against Khera.

"Look at the language used about me. I will not repeat these words. Malafide political vendetta is writ large. The complainant is virtually defacto the honourable Chief Minister of Assam. I doubt if terrorist plants a bomb, 100 people from Assam will land the next day. I am just showing the context," he submitted.

Singhvi also highlighted how a similar case was registered by Assam Police against Khera in the past.

"The Honourable Chief Minister appears to be very fond of my client, the petitioner. He reserves his special affections for him, because this is not the first time it has happened. Earlier, for a press conference in Maharashtra, 3-4 FIRs were registered with 1 in Assam. The Assam CM sent police from Asaam. Supreme Court gave an order of temporary protection from arrest then. There is a strong case of political vendetta and malafides," Singhvi argued.

Assam Advocate General (AG) Devajit Saikia rebutted the contentions.

He said that this was not a case of political vendetta.

"He has done a lot of forgery and is playing fraud on this court as well. He is trying to mislead this court. He has already done it in public domain to defame the informant who is not even a political person," Saikia said.

He then questioned the maintainability of the plea saying Telangana High Court is not the forum to seek anticipatory bail.

"I am not entering into merits but I argue that this is not the appropriate forum to seek anticipatory bail in this case. He resides in Delhi. I don't see any single document or pleading saying he is a resident of Telangana," Saikia submitted.

The plea by Khera is silent on why he cannot approach courts in Assam for anticipatory bail, the AG said.

"There is not a single whisper here about why he cannot come to Assam and file for anticipatory bail. There is no medical reason. He was in Assam on 5th. He was here. He can file anticipatory bail in Assam from any part of the country. the power to grant extra territorial anticipatory bail should be exercised only in exceptional and compelling circumstances. There is nothing mentioned about that in the plea. He could have even moved a court in Delhi since he resides there. Instead, he is in Hyderabad. Although he is saying he is not a flight risk, he is an established flight risk at this stage, when police went to him, he fled," the AG contended.

He said that Assam is not a banana republic and there is no threat to Khera's life there that he cannot come to Assam to seek anticipatory bail.

Saikia also claimed that the case is more than just defamation

Khera maintained that he is seeking only transit anticipatory bail.

"The wife of the petitioner is a permanent resident of Hyderabad. She has contested for elections before," Khera's counsel said.

The Bench asked why he cannot move Assam court for anticipatory bail even if he continues to reside in Hyderabad.

"What the respondent is saying is that he can file anticipatory bail in Assam when residing in Hyderabad. He can move Delhi also. They are alleging the Aadhaar card is forged," the judge said.