<p>Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday granted anticipatory bail for one week to Congress leader <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/pawan-khera">Pawan Khera</a> in connection with an FIR registered following a complaint filed by Assam Chief Minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/himanta-biswa-sarma">Himanta Biswa Sarma</a>'s wife Riniki Bhuyan Sharma. </p><p>Justice K Sujana while pronouncing the order said, "The petitioner is granted time for one week to file an application before the concerned court. Relief to petitioner for one week with conditions."</p><p>Justice Sujana, who heard the matter on Thursday, reserved the order to Friday.</p>.Pawan Khera fled to Hyderabad after daring Assam Police to arrest him: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.<p>The anticipatory bail petition was filed in Hyderabad on the ground that Khera maintains a residence in the city, where his wife, writer and politician Kota Neelima, resides. Neelima has previously contested elections from the Sanathnagar constituency, and Khera visits the city regularly.</p><p>Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing on behalf of Khera on Thursday, contended that while multiple charges have been registered against his client, the case amounts, at best, to one of alleged defamation. He argued that the FIR was a calculated attempt to silence, harass, and intimidate political opposition, and did not warrant an arrest.</p>.<p>Singhvi pointed out that for what is ostensibly a defamation offence, the FIR invokes, in his words, "every possible offence one can dream of", a sign, he argued, that the criminal action is politically motivated and amounts to a misuse of the law. "You are not fighting your political opponents politically, but through vicious, unjustified misuse of law. Because you want to silence me. It is disproportionate. The <em>de facto</em> complainant is virtually the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Assam," he submitted.</p><p>Advocate General of Assam Devajit Saikia, appearing for the Assam police, challenged the very maintainability of the plea in Hyderabad. He submitted that Khera, a Delhi resident, had furnished no valid reason for not approaching a court in Assam or Delhi for anticipatory bail. "There is no medical emergency. He can file for anticipatory bail in Assam from any part of the country," Saikia argued.</p>
<p>Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday granted anticipatory bail for one week to Congress leader <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/pawan-khera">Pawan Khera</a> in connection with an FIR registered following a complaint filed by Assam Chief Minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/himanta-biswa-sarma">Himanta Biswa Sarma</a>'s wife Riniki Bhuyan Sharma. </p><p>Justice K Sujana while pronouncing the order said, "The petitioner is granted time for one week to file an application before the concerned court. Relief to petitioner for one week with conditions."</p><p>Justice Sujana, who heard the matter on Thursday, reserved the order to Friday.</p>.Pawan Khera fled to Hyderabad after daring Assam Police to arrest him: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.<p>The anticipatory bail petition was filed in Hyderabad on the ground that Khera maintains a residence in the city, where his wife, writer and politician Kota Neelima, resides. Neelima has previously contested elections from the Sanathnagar constituency, and Khera visits the city regularly.</p><p>Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing on behalf of Khera on Thursday, contended that while multiple charges have been registered against his client, the case amounts, at best, to one of alleged defamation. He argued that the FIR was a calculated attempt to silence, harass, and intimidate political opposition, and did not warrant an arrest.</p>.<p>Singhvi pointed out that for what is ostensibly a defamation offence, the FIR invokes, in his words, "every possible offence one can dream of", a sign, he argued, that the criminal action is politically motivated and amounts to a misuse of the law. "You are not fighting your political opponents politically, but through vicious, unjustified misuse of law. Because you want to silence me. It is disproportionate. The <em>de facto</em> complainant is virtually the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Assam," he submitted.</p><p>Advocate General of Assam Devajit Saikia, appearing for the Assam police, challenged the very maintainability of the plea in Hyderabad. He submitted that Khera, a Delhi resident, had furnished no valid reason for not approaching a court in Assam or Delhi for anticipatory bail. "There is no medical emergency. He can file for anticipatory bail in Assam from any part of the country," Saikia argued.</p>