From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday (January 4) dismissed a plea by Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera for quashing of criminal proceedings against him over an alleged remark on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a press conference in Mumbai.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a special leave petition against an order of the Allahabad High Court refusing to quash the criminal proceedings against Khera over his alleged ‘Narendra Gautam Das Modi’ comment made at a press conference in Mumbai.
During the hearing on Thursday, Khera’s plea was summarily dismissed. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Uttar Pradesh pointed out that the reply to Khera’s petition has been filed on the basis of the chargesheet.
“They have only relied on the chargesheet. But, now you go on seeking apologies and apologies,” Justice Gavai told Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid, who was appearing for Khera.
Wishing away an offence, is that possible?” Justice Mehta added. Ultimately, the bench decided to dismiss the special leave petition. “Anyway, sorry, we are not inclined,” Justice Gavai said before the bench rose for the day.
In October, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Congress leader, pointed to Khera’s clarification that the comment had been made inadvertently and his prompt apology issued in a separate post on X( formerly known as Twitter). He also argued that the charges levelled against Khera, including defamation, attempt to degrade and destabilise the nation, promoting enmity and hatred between different groups and disturbing public peace were a “complete stretch.”
Congress leader and spokesperson Pawan Khera has been embroiled in a controversy over his ‘Narendra Gautam Das Modi’ remark at a press conference in February. This led to multiple first information reports being registered against him and the Assam police arresting him in the same month. Khera is facing charges under Sections 153A (promoting communal enmity), 153B (imputations prejudicial to national integration), 500 (defamation), 504 (insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
On February 23, the Assam police arrested Khera from the Delhi airport in relation to an FIR registered over the remark.
On the same day as his arrest, the Supreme Court granted Khera temporary relief and directed his release on interim bail till the next date of hearing. The interim bail was later extended from February 28 to March 3 and again till March 17.
On March 20, the Supreme Court clubbed the FIRs registered against him at Varanasi and Assam and transferred them to the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow. Khera was also granted liberty to apply for regular bail before the jurisdictional court in the matter. In August, Khera was granted bail by a local court in Lucknow.
The Congress spokesperson also approached the Allahabad High Court seeking the quashing of the summons order and chargesheet filed against him. He also tendered alongside an unconditional apology for the purported incident. The high court, however, declined to grant him any relief and dismissed his plea.
Justice Rajeev Singh observed that the evidence collected by the investigating officer could not be assessed by the court during the ongoing proceedings undr Sec 482 of CrPC. The court also directed Khera to raise all contentions before the jurisdictional court, in terms of the Supreme Court’s March 20 directive.
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