SC Refuses To Entertain Pawan Khera's Plea To Extend Transit Anticipatory Bail In Assam FIR
The top court turned down Khera's plea to extend the transit bail till next Tuesday so that he can approach the Assam court on Monday.
By Sumit Saxena
Published : April 17, 2026 at 1:32 PM IST
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a plea by Congress leader Pawan Khera to vacate the stay it imposed on the transit anticipatory bail granted to him by the Telangana High Court in connection with the Assam Police FIR regarding CM Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife's complaint.
The matter came up before a bench led by Justice J K Maheshwari. On Wednesday, the apex court put on hold the transit anticipatory bail granted by the Telangana High Court to Khera regarding the Assam Police FIR. The transit bail granted by the Telangana High Court expired today.
Today, the apex court turned down Khera's plea to extend the transit bail till next Tuesday so that he can approach the Assam court on Monday. The bench granted the petitioner liberty to approach the court in Assam, which shall not be influenced by the orders passed by it staying the transit bail granted by the high court. The bench said the court shall decide the anticipatory bail plea based on the material placed before it.
On Wednesday, the apex court passed an interim order while issuing notice on the petition filed by the Assam government against the high court's order. The apex court said that if Khera applies for anticipatory bail before the court having jurisdiction in Assam, while deciding such an application, the order passed by this court in the matter of transit bail will not have any adverse impact.
The Assam government moved the Supreme Court against the Telangana High Court order granting one-week transit anticipatory bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera in a case registered against him for levelling allegations against the state’s Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife.
During the hearing on Wednesday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta contended that Khera's petition contained no averment regarding territorial jurisdiction in Telangana.
Mehta claimed his wife has property there. "If this is the case, a person can buy properties across the country and seek anticipatory bail from the places they choose. This is forum-shopping, if not forum-choosing..." contended Mehta. After hearing submissions, the apex court said, “Considering all the aspects, issue notice.” The bench added that in the meantime, the operation of the high court order will be stayed.
The state government filed the plea through advocate Shuvodeep Roy. Khera moved the high court on April 7 and showed his residential address in Hyderabad. Khera requested the high court to release him on bail in the event of his arrest. On April 10, the high court granted Khera one-week transit anticipatory bail and gave him a week to file an application before the concerned court.
The high court said that, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, it is of the view that the petitioner has made out a case for the grant of limited transit anticipatory bail, as his apprehension of arrest appears to be reasonable and supported by material on record.
The high court granted him relief with certain conditions. The conditions were that the petitioner shall be released on bail in the event of arrest on his executing a personal bond for Rs one lakh with two sureties for the like sum each, cooperate with the investigation and make himself available for interrogation as and when required by the Investigating Officer and that he shall not leave the country without prior permission of the competent court.
The conditions further include that the petitioner shall, within the stipulated period, approach the competent jurisdictional court in Assam and seek appropriate relief. The conditions also included that Khera, being a public figure, shall exercise restraint in making any further public statements in relation to the subject matter of the present case, which may prejudice the investigation.
The Congress leader on April 5 had alleged that the Assam CM’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, has multiple passports and foreign property, which were not declared in the chief minister’s election affidavit for the April 9 Assembly polls in that state.
Read More
