Congress leader Pawan Khera told the Supreme Court of India that it was not necessary to humiliate him with arrest during his bail plea hearing. Khera applied for anticipatory bail amid a row sparked by his claim that Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife Rinki Bhuyan Sarma holds three passports.
Khera further told the top court that if he does not get anticipatory bail in the case against him in Assam, then the purpose of pre-arrest bail is gone.
A bench of Justices JK Maheswari and Atul Chandurkar heard the case filed by Khera, which challenges the rejection of his anticipatory bail plea by the Gauhati high court.
Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Khera, stated that the case was an 'unprecedented one.'
Invoking the values of Dr BR Ambedkar, Singhvi argued that the words used by Himanta Biswa Sarma against Khera would make the leader 'turn in his grave.'
The Supreme Court has reserved its judgment and will reconvene for the verdict at a later date.
A defamation FIR was filed against Congress leader Pawan Khera after he alleged that Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife, Rinki Bhuyan, holds three passports - from India, the UAE and Egypt.
