SC grants interim bail to Pawan Khera till Feb 28; seeks replies of UP & Assam

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered grant of interim bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera till February 28 in a case related to his alleged objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which the Assam Police arrested him after having him deplaned at the Delhi airport amid chaotic scenes.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said Khera will be produced before the competent magistrate in Delhi and released on interim bail.

"In order to protect the petitioner (Khera) until he applies for regular bail before the jurisdictional courts in relation to all the FIRs, we direct that till the next date of listing, the petitioner shall be released on interim bail by the court of competent magistrate in Delhi," said the bench, also comprising Justices M R Shah and P S Narasimha.

"The above order will remain operational till Tuesday (February 28)," the bench said and listed the matter for hearing on February 27.

The apex court issued notices to the states of Assam and Uttar Pradesh seeking their responses to Khera's plea for transferring and clubbing together three separate FIRs lodged against him in Assam, and Uttar Pradesh cities of Lucknow and Varanasi for his alleged offensive remarks against the prime minister.

After dictating the order, the CJI, apparently displeased with the Congress leader's remarks, told senior advocate A M Singhvi, who was representing Khera, "We have protected you (Khera) but there has to be some level of discourse." In its order, the bench said it is inclined to entertain the plea on the limited issue of whether the FIRs should be clubbed or not, and added such a course of action has been adopted in journalist Arnab Goswami's case earlier.

In fast-paced developments, Khera, who had boarded a flight from New Delhi to Raipur to attend the Congress plenary session, was deplaned, detained and finally arrested by the Assam Police in connection with an FIR lodged in Haflong. Soon after the news about Khera's detention broke, Singhvi mentioned the matter for urgent listing at 2 pm before a five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Chandrachud which was hearing the Maharashtra Shiv Sena matter.

The CJI assured him a bench will take up the matter at 3 PM.

As the hearing got underway, Singhvi told the court that Khera had already apologised for his remarks made at a press conference on February 17 in Mumbai and the offences alleged against him in the cases did not require arrest.

The bench noted Singhvi's submission that the words used by Khera do not attract penal provisions of offences which have been invoked against him.

"It will have straightaway impact on the latitude of free speech," Singhvi said, adding, "This should not have led to arrest. The offences entail maximum sentence of three or five years and no prior notice was served upon him." On being asked by the CJI about where the FIRs have been lodged, Singhvi said separate FIRs have been registered against Khera in Lucknow, Varanasi and Assam's Haflong.

The senior advocate said Khera had already acknowledged the very same day that the remarks were a mistake.

He said FIRs have been lodged and offences, including those under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code have been invoked against him.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for Assam Police, played the audio-video clip of Khera's alleged remarks, in the open court and said the Congress leader cannot use such "derogatory words" against a democratically elected prime minister of the country.

Terming it a "calculated statement", Bhati told the court that Khera has been arrested and will be produced before a competent magistrate during the day for transit remand.

When Singhvi pointed out that Khera has already apologised for his remarks, Bhati said, "Please see the video whether it is a mistake or a deliberate act. It is the demeanour which counts. There was laughter all around after these remarks." "The entire press conference has to be seen....It is a very calculated statement. It is a statement which not just insults the prime minister but invites disaffection and disloyalty. After all, he is the duly elected prime minister of the largest democracy in the world," Bhati said.

The bench asked Singhvi whether he was pressing for the prayer of quashing of the FIRs at this stage. Singhvi responded in the negative.

"I myself have been doing TV for more than 20 years now and I personally feel these words should not have been spoken at all," Singhvi told the bench.

Earlier in the day, high drama unfolded on the tarmac of the Delhi airport after Khera was asked by the Delhi Police to deplane. Congress leaders accompanying him sat on the tarmac in protest and resisted efforts to take him away without an arrest warrant.

Senior Delhi Police officials later handed over a document from Assam Police seeking their help in arresting Khera.

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala accompanied Khera to a police station at the airport where there was a huge deployment of CISF.

"We are all on the @IndiGo6E flight 6E 204 to Raipur and all of a sudden my colleague @Pawankhera has been asked to deplane," Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, who was also on the flight, said on Twitter.

"What sort of high-handedness is this? Is there any rule of law? On what grounds is this being done and under whose order?" she said.