Senior Congress leader and party spokesman Pawan Khera was released on interim bail on Thursday hours after he was arrested by the Assam Police at the Delhi airport after being deplaned from a Delhi-Raipur flight.
Khera was arrested in connection with his recent alleged derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Without furnishing a copy of FIR and notice, I was deboarded from the aircraft and arrested by Assam Police in an illegal manner. I have complete trust in the judicial system which protected my freedom of expression today,” Khera said after interim bail was granted to him.
The Dwarka court granted interim bail to Khera following an order passed by the Supreme Court.
The senior Congress leader was arrested at the Delhi airport by the Assam Police in a case related to an alleged remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Dwarka court Archana Beniwal granted interim bail till February 28 to Khera on a bail bond of Rs 30,000 and one surety of the same amount.
The court, while granting the relief, imposed some conditions.
Post receiving a copy of the top court’s order, the magistrate passed the order to release Khera.
The Supreme Court had ruled that Khera will be released on interim bail upon production before a magistrate in Delhi
and the interim relief is till Tuesday.
Earlier, the Supreme Court directed the Dwarka court to grant interim bail to Pawan Khera. While granting interim protection to Khera from being arrested, the apex court issued notice to the Assam Police and the UP Police on Congress leader Pawan Khera’s plea seeking clubbing of FIRs.
The court said, “Till the next date of hearing, the petitioner will be released on interim bail by Dwarka court.”
Earlier in the day, Khera was deboarded from the flight while en route to Raipur to attend Congress Plenary Session. According to the Assam Police, an FIR had been registered against Khera at the Haflong police station in Dima Hasao district.
“Khera was stopped from boarding a plane at Delhi airport after a request was received from the Assam Police to stop him,” Delhi Police said.
Soon after the arrest, Khera said he is “ready to fight the long battle”. “We will see (in which case they are taking me). It’s a long battle and I’m ready to fight,” he said Khera as the Delhi Police took him into custody after he was deboarded from an aircraft at Delhi airport.
Reacting to the development, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge came down heavily on the BJP government at the Centre and alleged that the Narendra Modi Government has turned “India’s democracy into a Hitlershahi”.
“Notice is given if the Opposition raises issues in Parliament. ED raids are conducted on our leaders of Chhattisgarh before the plenary session. Today the media chairman was forcibly taken off the plane and arrested. The Modi government has turned India’s democracy into a Hitlership. We strongly condemn this dictatorship,” Kharge tweeted in Hindi.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders staged a protest inside the Delhi airport after their party leader Pawan Khera was deboarded from a Raipur-bound plane.
Khera, en-route to Raipur for the party plenary starting on Friday, was accompanied by Randeep Surjewala and Shakeel Ahmed besides many others.
According to party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, “First, the airline staff said that there was a baggage issue but when Khera came out, it was said that he is being deplaned on the order of the DCP to serve a notice. What has Khera done, we will not go until each one of us is allowed.”
The Congress leaders and workers started sloganeering against the Delhi Police terming it their “gimmick” to disrupt the party’s plenary as on Monday there were ED raids in Chhattisgarh on Congress leaders.
Earlier, the Assam Police registered a case against the Congress leader in the Dima Hasao district.
In a video shared on Congress’s Twitter handle, Pawan Khera said that he does not know why he was deboarded.
“I don’t know. I was told that your baggage has to be checked. I said I do not have any luggage except a handbag. When I came down, I was told that I cannot go, a DCP would come. We are waiting for the DCP for the last 20 minutes. I don’t know why I am being stopped,” he said.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said that the Congress leaders were en route to Chhattisgarh’s Raipur to attend the party’s 85th Plenary Session when Khera was asked to deboard. She accused the BJP government of “dictatorship”.
“We were going from Delhi to Raipur by Indigo flight 6E-204. Pawan Khera, KC Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala was also with us. We were heading to Raipur for the Congress Plenary Session. Pawan Khera was taken away stating that his bag has been exchanged but he was not carrying check-in baggage. He was then told that he had been deplaned and a DSP of CISF would come and serve him notice. If this is not a dictatorship, then what is it? Would you stop people from boarding the flight? The dictator got ED raids done before the session and now the government has come down to this kind of act,” she said in a video tweeted by the Congress party.
She questioned about the sections under which action was being taken against Khera and said that they would not board the flight to Raipur until the Congress leader is allowed to board along with others.
“What wrong has he done that this action is being taken? The action is being taken under which sections, they will have to tell. We will keep standing here until the flight departs along with all of us including Pawan Khera,” she said.