The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on Congress leader Pawan Khera’s petition for clubbing of FIRs filed against him on Friday and granted interim relief until 20 March.
On the request of Pawan Khera’s counsel, a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud adjourned the hearing on his plea. The court stated that it will hear the case on Monday. Earlier, in an affidavit, the Assam and Uttar Pradesh police departments opposed Pawan Khera’s request for the clubbing of FIRs.
Assam police had questioned Khera about his apology in court, while UP police said he is attempting to stall investigations into deliberate utterances of defamatory words relating to one of the country’s highest constitutional functionaries.
The UP and Assam police responded with a counter-affidavit in response to Khera’s request for the clubbing of FIRs. In response, Assam police told the Supreme Court that a closer examination of the available audio video clearly reveals that Pawan Khera has mischievously uttered sentences only with an extreme degree of irresponsibility and at the lowest level of discourse.
Assam Police had also informed the Supreme Court that Pawan Khera had not offered any apology in the petition or after the Court issued its order on February 23, and the submission made before this top court tendering an apology clearly appears to be a practical submission to obtain a preventive order without any repentance.
Assam Police also cited a recent order issued by the Supreme Court, which stated that even a subsequent FIR registered as a leading FIR/First FIR must be investigated by the investigating agency where the subsequent FIR was registered.