Supreme Court flags "unparliamentary" remarks by Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma against Pawan Khera

The Supreme Court on Thursday flagged a series of remarks made by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma against Congress leader Pawan Khera while granting anticipatory bail to the latter in a criminal case registered in Assam..A Bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandurkar noted that certain remarks made by Sarma were "unparliamentary" and could not be ignored while considering Khera's bail plea. “We cannot lose sight of the fact that the Chief Minister of the State, who is also husband of the complainant, has made certain unparliamentary remarks against the Appellant,” the Court observed.It noted that the remarks formed part of the factual background indicating a political rivalry between Sarma and Khera. .The Court reproduced several statements attributed to Sarma in the course of its order.In one such statement made on April 7, 2026, he was quoted as saying that he would take action to “turn Pawan Khera into ‘Pawan Peda’, wait for a few days.”In other statements, he was recorded as saying:“Who is this Pawan Khera? Even if he hides in the hell, I will drag him out.”"Khera ko pelunga" (Will knock Khera out).The Court also noted statements suggesting that Khera would face prolonged imprisonment if the ruling party returned to power.“…if the BJP forms the government, then Pawan Khera will spend the very last days of his life in an Assam jail,” the statement recorded in the order said.The Bench further recorded that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Assam, had not defended any of these remarks by Sarma against Khera.“Learned Solicitor General has not defended any of such statements during the course of hearing, nor is the veracity of the same questioned,” it noted..The Court observed that both sides had made allegations and counter-allegations in public statements during the election period. Hence, it concluded that prima facie, the criminal proceedings against Khera appeared to arise in the context of political exchanges rather than circumstances warranting custodial interrogation.“The allegations and counter-allegations…prima facie, appear to be politically motivated and seemingly influenced by such rivalry,” the Court observed.The Court stressed that while investigation must proceed in accordance with law, the criminal process must be applied with objectivity to ensure that individual liberty is not compromised by proceedings influenced by political rivalry..The observations were made while granting anticipatory bail to Khera in connection with an FIR registered in Assam alleging that he had displayed forged documents relating to the wife of the Chief Minister during press conferences held ahead of the Assembly elections.The Court clarified that its observations were confined to the question of grant of anticipatory bail and would not influence the merits of the criminal proceedings, which shall be decided independently in accordance with law..[Read Judgment]