Pawan Khera's anticipatory bill rejected by Gauhati high court in Assam CM wife FIR

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like The Gauhati High Court on Friday rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by Congress leader Pawan Khera in connection with an FIR lodged by Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, the wife of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, reported news agency ANI. The row erupted after Khera, addressing a press conference in Guwahati, alleged that Assam CM's wife Riniki holds three passports. (ANI/PTI)As reported by HT earlier, a legal team representing the Assam Congress had approached the high court on Monday by filing a petition on behalf of Khera. The plea was heard by a single bench of Justice Parthiv Jyoti Saikia on Tuesday, who reserved the order after hearing arguments from both sides for over three hours. Appearing for the Congress leader via video conferencing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued that remarks made by the chief minister in response to the Congress leader’s allegations pointed to “political vendetta,” a news agency PTI report said. Singhvi submitted that the petitioner is not a “flight risk” and that there was no necessity for his arrest. The case stems from an FIR lodged by Riniki Bhuyan Sharma against Khera on April 5 over his allegations that she held passports issued by the UAE and Egypt, and owned undisclosed luxury properties in Dubai as well as a company in the United States. Both Sharma and Assam CM have denied the claims. Following the complaint, the Guwahati Crime Branch registered a case under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including false statement in connection with an election, cheating, forgery of valuable security or will, forgery of public records, using forged documents as genuine, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, and defamation. A police team also conducted searches at Khera’s residence in Delhi on April 7. Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Shehzaad Poonawala attacked Khera following the high court order, alleging that the party was targeting Assam and had resorted to misinformation. He said, “Where is this Babbar Sher? He has become Bheegi Billi after targeting Assam on insurrection of Pakistan & Rahul Gandhi using forged documents. Cong hates Assam.”