Delhi Police Arrest Pawan Khera, Supreme Court Releases Him On Interim Bail
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-02-23 11:29:58
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
The arrest
of senior Congress leader Pawan Khera at Delhi airport after asking him to
disembark from a flight was unnecessary and does not show the government in
good light. There is no doubt what Pawan Khera said about Prime Minister Modi's
father was gross and absolutely unacceptable, but the manner of the arrest was also unacceptable.
Khera is a
senior leader. He was going to Raipur with other Congress leaders to attend the
plenary session of the party. Assam police, acting on an FIR filed in a court
in a remote corner of the state, invoked Sections 153A & 295 of the IPC
(which the Supreme Court said was absurd while hearing an emergency plea
against the arrest), and approached the Delhi police for arresting Khera. The
Delhi police showed unseemly haste to carry out the task.
The worst
part is that while the Delhi police conveniently ignores innumerable instances
of more damning hate speeches under its watch and does not even register an FIR
in most cases, let alone make an arrest, it chose to act with alarming speed in
this case as if if Khera was allowed to go to Raipur he would abscond.
Khera's
lawyers mentioned the matter in the Supreme Court which rightly directed that
he be given interim bail when he is produced before a magistrate for transit
remand by the Assam police. It also rightly directed Assam and UP police to
club all FIRs in the matter (as the apex court had done in Arnab Goswamiâs
case). It ordered that Khera's interim bail would be valid till Tuesday and it
will hear the matter next on Monday.
This was a
lesson for the Delhi and Assam police as well as the government. Invoking
stringent sections of the IPC for such matters means that government does not
care much about personal liberty of citizens. Fortunately the Supreme Court has
always stood up for the people and stopped such excesses.
