Pawan Khera seeks bail: Khera moves Gauhati HC for anticipatory bail in forgery case; Supreme Court declines earlier protection from arrest

Guwahati: All India Congress Committee (AICC) media and publicity chairperson Pawan Khera on Monday moved the Gauhati high court seeking anticipatory bail in connection with a forgery and criminal conspiracy case registered against him.

The case was filed on April 6 midnight, based on an FIR lodged by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, at the Crime Branch Police Station of the Guwahati Police Commissionerate. The FIR followed a press conference in which Khera alleged that Riniki held passports of the UAE, Egypt, and Antigua and Barbuda, and accused the Sarma family of owning a limited liability company in the US.

As per the case status available on the Gauhati HC website, the petition was filed on April 20 and was registered by the registry earlier in the day for listing before an appropriate Bench.

The development comes days after the Supreme Court declined to grant Khera protection from arrest and refused to extend the duration of his transit anticipatory bail.

A Bench of justices JK Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar, in its April 17 order, reiterated that Khera was “at liberty to apply immediately before the Court concerned” in Assam and clarified that any such plea “shall not be adversely influenced” by its earlier order staying the transit bail granted by the Telangana HC. The SC had said the competent court “shall decide the anticipatory bail application... on its own merits and on the basis of the material placed before it”.

Earlier, on April 15, the Supreme Court stayed the Telangana HC’s order granting Khera transit anticipatory bail, observing that the plea appeared to rely on “fabricated documents” to invoke jurisdiction. The interim protection from arrest consequently stood vacated.

The case against Khera stems from an FIR registered by Assam Police under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, including charges of defamation, forgery, and criminal conspiracy over allegations made against Riniki Bhuyan Sharma.