'Was Deboarded And Arrested In Illegal Manner': Pawan Khera After Getting Interim Bail

The court granted Pawan Khera interim bail on furnishing a bond of Rs 30,000.

Congress leader Pawan Khera

Source : ANI

New Delhi: Dwarka court in Delhi granted interim bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera in view of the order passed by the Supreme Court. The court granted him interim bail on furnishing a bond of Rs 30,000, news agency ANI reported.

In his first remarks after getting bail, Khera said he was arrested in an illegal manner. "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.

"Our struggle is to protect this nation, protect constitutional values - my leader Rahul Gandhi is carrying on his struggle fearlessly, I will strengthen his effort," he added.

Asked about his next step for the Congress's 85th plenary session in Raipur, Khera said he was going there now.  

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Archana Beniwal granted interim bail to Khera, who was produced before court, on a bail bond of Rs 30,000 and one surety of the like amount. The magistrate passed the order after receiving a copy of the Supreme Court's order for Khera's release.

Here are the key developments:

• Pawan Khera, who was on his way to Raipur for the Congress plenary session, was arrested by Assam Police earlier in the day after he was deboarded from the Raipur-bound IndiGo flight at Delhi airport.
• The Congress leader was arrested by the Assam Police in a case related to his alleged objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Multiple cases were registered against the party leader at various places in Assam.
• The Congress leader was arrested by the Assam Police after a complaint was lodged by BJP leader Hen Samuel Changsan against Khera at Haflong police station.
• Khera has been booked for offences under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth etc.) and Section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
• The Supreme Court had directed a Delhi court to grant interim bail to Khera, and also issued notice to Assam and UP Police on Khera's plea seeking clubbing of FIRs. The court directed the matter to be listed next on February 27.
• Meanwhile, Congress leaders sat on a dharna at the airport tarmac in protest to stop police from taking him away without an arrest warrant.
• Condemning his arrest, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted, “Notice is given if the Opposition raises issues in the Parliament. Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids are conducted on our leaders of Chhattisgarh ahead of the Congress plenary session. Today our media department chairman was forcibly taken off the plane and arrested. The Modi government has turned India's democracy into a Hitlershahi. We strongly condemn this dictatorship.”
• Hitting out at the move to arrest the Congress leader, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted, “While going from Delhi to Raipur to attend the Congress session, senior Congress leader Mr. Pawan Kheda was taken off the flight by the Assam Police. What was the emergency that the Assam Police came to Delhi and did this act? Earlier ED raids in Raipur and now such act shows BJP's fury. This is condemnable.”