SC Issues Notice on Pawan Khera’s Plea to Quash Criminal Proceedings for Remarks Against PM Modi
New Delhi, Oct 16: The Supreme Court has taken action on a petition submitted by Congress Spokesperson Pawan Khera, who sought the quashing of criminal proceedings against him. The case is related to alleged objectionable remarks made against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A bench consisting of Justices BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra has agreed to examine the matter and issued notices to both the Uttar Pradesh government and the complainant, who is a BJP functionary responsible for initiating the FIR.
Earlier, on August 17, a bench led by Justice Rajeev Singh of the Lucknow High Court had declined to consider Khera’s argument that he had already tendered an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court. He believed that this apology should have led to the quashing of all subsequent legal proceedings.
The High Court stated, “The applicant may appear before the jurisdictional court and raise all his grievances before the court below. In view of the above facts and discussions, the application has no merit and is, accordingly, dismissed.”
In March of this year, the Supreme Court ordered the consolidation of various FIRs filed against the Congress spokesperson in Assam and Varanasi, transferring them to Lucknow. Two FIRs were registered against Khera in Uttar Pradesh, and one in Assam.
On February 23, Khera was prevented from boarding a flight to Raipur and was subsequently arrested by the Assam Police. However, the Supreme Court intervened and granted him interim protection from arrest.
During a subsequent hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Khera, assured the court that his client would offer an unconditional apology for his objectionable comments.
Both the Uttar Pradesh and Assam governments informed the apex court that Khera had not expressed any remorse for his comments against the Prime Minister, despite his counsel tendering an apology in court.
