The Supreme Court granted anticipatory bail to Congress leader Poon Khaira in the Assam police case.

The Supreme Court has granted anticipatory bail to Congress leader Poon Khehra in a case registered by the Assam police on Friday.

The case was registered on a complaint by the wife of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma. Mr. Khehra had leveled allegations of holding multiple passports against Mrs. Sarma. A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandorkar had reserved its verdict on Thursday on a petition challenging the rejection of Khehra's anticipatory bail plea by the Guwahati High Court, which was pronounced on Friday.

In it, the Supreme Court said the Guwahati High Court's observation was "not based on proper appreciation of the material on record and appears to be erroneous, particularly with regard to the burden on the accused."

The court further said the allegations and counter-allegations appear to be influenced by political vendetta at first glance and do not justify the need for custodial interrogation, which can be investigated during the trial. The court clarified that its observations are limited to the issue of granting anticipatory bail and will not affect the validity of the criminal proceedings, which will be decided independently according to law.

Notably, Mr. Khehra had first approached the Telangana High Court after the case was registered, which had granted him a week's transit anticipatory bail on April 10 to seek relief from the concerned court in Assam. The Supreme Court had later stayed this relief on April 15, but clarified that any anticipatory bail plea filed in the competent court in Assam should be decided independently.

The Guwahati High Court had subsequently rejected his plea, saying the case was not limited to defamation and custodial interrogation was necessary to trace the source of the documents, following which he approached the Supreme Court.