Gauhati High Court has refused pre-arrest bail to Congress leader Pawan Khera in a case filed after a complaint by Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, over allegations made at a press conference in Guwahati earlier this month.Justice Parthivjyoti Saikia rejected Khera’s plea on Friday, holding that the matter could not be treated merely as a defamation dispute. The court said the material placed before it indicated a prima facie case involving alleged forged documents and that custodial interrogation was necessary to identify those who supplied the papers used by Khera to make his claims.
Khera, an office-bearer of the Indian National Congress, had moved the High Court after seeking protection from arrest in Crime Branch Police Station Case No. 04/2026. The FIR invokes several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including those linked to false statements in connection with elections, cheating, forgery, use of forged documents, criminal intimidation, public mischief, defamation and criminal conspiracy.
The case stems from a 5 April press conference in Guwahati, where Khera displayed documents and alleged that Riniki Bhuyan Sarma held passports from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Antigua and Barbuda. He also claimed that she had floated a company in Wyoming in the United States and invested more than ₹50,000 crore. Sarma has denied the allegations, stating in her complaint that she is a citizen of India, does not hold passports of any other country and has not floated such a company in the United States.
The High Court noted that Khera had claimed the documents were collected by his associates. The State argued that police had already found the documents to be false, making the case more serious than a political speech or a defamatory statement. The court accepted that line of argument at the bail stage, observing that investigators needed to determine who collected the documents, how they were obtained and where they came from.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Khera, argued that the case arose in a charged political environment before the Assam Assembly election and that the allegations should be seen as political rhetoric. The defence also submitted that the matter, at worst, would amount to defamation and that arrest would expose Khera to harassment. The court was not persuaded, saying Riniki Bhuyan Sarma was not a political actor and that allegations against her could not be equated with criticism of the Chief Minister.
The order places Khera at risk of arrest unless he secures relief from a higher court or surrenders and seeks regular bail. His legal team may consider further remedies, including moving the Supreme Court, particularly because the case touches on political speech, criminal defamation, alleged forgery and police powers of arrest under the new criminal codes.
The dispute has sharpened the confrontation between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam. For the Congress, Khera’s legal battle is being framed as an attempt to silence opposition criticism during an election cycle. For the ruling side, the issue is being projected as a case of fabricated material being used to target a private individual for political gain.
The court’s language is significant because it separates campaign rhetoric from allegations against a person who does not hold public office. It observed that if Khera had levelled accusations against the Chief Minister, the matter might have been viewed differently as political rhetoric. By making the claims against the Chief Minister’s wife, the court said, Khera had brought a private person into the controversy.