Pawan Khera's pre-arrest bail plea: HC holds order for today

HYDERABAD: Telangana HC on Thursday reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea filed by Congress' Pawan Khera in connection with a case registered against him over his allegations against Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma.The matter came up before Justice K Sujana, who posted it to Friday for orders after recording submissions from both the sides. Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing virtually for Khera, submitted that the case was "politically motivated, vindictive and malafide", and that "every imaginable offence" had been added in the FIR just to "harass" the petitioner. Himanta's comments against Khera using abusive language and his move to send over 100 policemen from Assam to the petitioner's Delhi residence showed attempts to "silence and intimidate" him, he argued.Opposing the bail plea, Assam's advocate general, Devajit Saikia, countered that the case was not just about defamation but went much beyond and involved a bigger conspiracy requiring a detailed investigation.