New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has granted interim bail to Pawan Khera until the next date of listing when he will apply for regular bail before the jurisdictional court.
Chief Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud stated that this decision is to ensure the protection of the petitioner until then.
According to LiveLaw, the Court ordered that Khera should be released on interim bail until the next hearing on February 28, upon production before the jurisdictional Magistrate in Delhi.
The Court also issued notice to the States of Uttar Pradesh and Assam, who have registered FIRs against Khera, in response to his writ petition seeking consolidation of the FIRS.
Furthermore, the Court recorded Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s undertaking on behalf of Khera, that he will offer an unconditional apology for the statement. A specially convened bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice MR Shah, and Justice PS Narasimha heard the matter at 3 PM after Singhvi mentioned it at 2 PM.
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Singhvi informed the bench that Khera was deplaned at 11 AM while attempting to board a flight from Delhi airport.
Complaints were filed against him in Assam, Lucknow and Varanasi in relation to his comments about the Prime Minister, invoking offences under Section 153A, 153B, 295, and 505 of the Indian Penal Code.
It may be mentioned that officials of the Assam police on Thursday arrested senior Congress leader Pawan Khera from the Delhi airport.
Pawan Khera was arrested at the Delhi airport by the Assam police after he was deplaned from a flight to Raipur in Chhattisgarh.
Also Read: Assam police arrests Congress leader Pawan Khera in Delhi over remarks on PM Modi
Khera was de-boarded from an IndiGo flight to Raipur, where he was heading for the AICC plenary session, scheduled to begin Friday.
Pawan Khera was detained from Terminal 1 of the IGI airport in Delhi and was subsequently arrested by the Assam police.
A case was registered against Pawan Khera at the Haflong police station in Dima Hasao district of Assam for his comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Khera recently referred to the PM as “Narendra Gautamdas Modi” while demanding a probe into allegations made by Hindenburg Research against the Adani Group.
“If Narasimha Rao could form a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee), if Atal Bihari Vajpayee could form a JPC, then what problem does Narendra Gautam Das…sorry Damodardas…Modi have?” Khera had said.