The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered interim bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera after he was deplaned from his Raipur-bound IndiGo flight at Delhi airport and arrested by Assam Police in connection with an FIR over alleged remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was accompanied by several other Congress leaders as they were on their way to attend the grand old party’s plenary session. The leaders also got off the plane after Khera was deboarded.
The apex court has agreed to club all FIRs against Khera.
Congress’s Reaction
Taking to Twitter, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate shared a video of Kera getting arrested and wrote, “Assam Police is arresting Pawan Kheda ji and taking him away. What crime has he committed that he has been arrested for? If this is not dictatorship then what is?”
Modi govt is acting like a bunch of goons by deplaning @Pawankhera ji from the Delhi-Raipur flight and preventing him from joining the AICC Plenary.Using a flimsy FIR to restrict his movement & silence him is a shameful, unacceptable act. The entire party stands with Pawan ji. pic.twitter.com/mKVeuRGnfR
— KC Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) February 23, 2023
Congress leader Randeep Surjewala accompanied Khera to a police station at the airport where there was a huge deployment of CISF.
As Khera was taken out of the Delhi airport by Assam Police, he interacted with the media and said, “We will see (in which case they are taking me). It is a long battle and I am ready to fight.”
In a video statement shared by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Twitter, Khera said he was told there was confusion with his bags and the police were on the way to explain the reason to him.
Ramesh wrote, “Freedom of Speech is slowly weakening in India, but Freedom AFTER Speech is fast becoming extinct. After ED raids, this is another attempt to derail Congress Plenary. Murder of Democratic India is the right acronym.”
Freedom of Speech is slowly weakening in India, but Freedom AFTER Speech is fast becoming extinct. My colleague @Pawankhera was deplaned from a Raipur-bound flight. After ED raids, another attempt to derail Congress Plenary. Murder of Democratic India is the right acronym for Him pic.twitter.com/11LXuDSOQO— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) February 23, 2023
Several Congress leaders raised slogans against the government while on the tarmac. “We are all on the @IndiGo6E flight 6E 204 to Raipur and all of a sudden my colleague @Pawankhera has been asked to deplane,” 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. The flight was delayed.
Supreme Court Hears Plea
Khera, who was in the headlines this week for apparently fumbling on the prime minister’s father’s name during a press conference, moved the Supreme Court to seek relief in multiple FIRs against him in Assam as well as in the Uttar Pradesh towns of Varanasi and Lucknow.
“He (Khera) has made statements in a press conference. He has made certain statements which I cannot say in the court but I personally would not have made,” Khera’s party colleague and senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi said in the apex court.
As political tempers ran high, Singhvi mentioned the matter for urgent listing before a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
Assam Police said in court that Khera had used “derogatory remarks” against a democratically elected prime minister.
His counsel argued that he had apologised for his remarks on the prime minister and the charges against him do not require arrest.
A case against Khera was registered at the Haflong police station in Assam under various sections of the IPC, including 153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national interest), 500 (punishment for defamation) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace).
Assam Police’s Reaction
Assam Police IGP Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan confirmed to CNN-News18 that a team of cops left for Delhi to take remand of Khera in connection with a case filed against him at Haflong police station in the Dima Hasao district.
Speaking to CNN-News18Bhuyan said, “Assam Police has registered a case regarding national security. A case has been registered against Pawan Khera on Wednesday night for communal disturbance and national security in Haflong in Dima Hasao district. He had given a statement, against which a complaint has been registered. A team of Assam Police is present in Delhi. Delhi Police has been asked to arrest him. He will be brought to Assam after permission from the local court.”
“The FIR was lodged by Samuel Changsan executive member Dima Hasao Autonomous Council. Case No 19/2023 Halflong police station Dima Hasao under Section 153(A), 153(B), 500, 504, 505(1)(B), 505(2), 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code,” he said.
After the arrest of Khera, a senior Delhi Police officer had said, “He was detained by the Delhi Police on a request by Assam Police. We were just extending support to them. The arrest has been made by them.”
BJP Stages Protest
BJP has accused him of making fun of PM Modi and his late father. The Prime Minister’s full name is Narendra Damodardas Modi, with the middle name Damodardas standing for his father’s name, a common practice in many parts of the country.
On Tuesday, several BJP leaders had staged a protest outside Congress’s former chief Sonia Gandhi’s residence in Delhi, demanding Khera’s removal from the party.
IndiGo Issues Statement
IndiGo later released a statement on the matter saying, “A passenger was deplaned by the police at the Delhi airport from Raipur-bound flight 6E 204. Some other passengers have also decided to deboard on their own accord. We are following the advice of the concerned authorities. The flight is delayed as of now and we regret the inconvenience caused to other passengers.”
The flight was subsequently delayed, for which the airline apologised. All the passengers on the Delhi-Raipur flight were asked to deboard and were shifted to another flight following the incident.
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