Pawan Khera: Supreme Court grants the leader interim bail

New Delhi: The Supreme Court granted Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera interim bail hours after he was arrested at Delhi airport on Thursday, NDTV reported.

Khera was taken off an IndiGo flight to Chattisgarh for a case of alleged insult on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There were petitions lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh and Assam, which were being heard by the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chadnrachud, granting Khera bail, told him that there has to be some level of discourse and the court is protecting him.

Khera was arrested over an alleged problematic remark on the PM at a press conference recently. While naming the PM, he made a mistake by saying the PM's middle name wrong. He asked his colleague to confirm it. This happened while he was demanding a probe into the Adani-Hindenburg row.

NDTV quoted him, "If Narasimha Rao could form a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) if Atal Bihari Vajpayee could form a JPC, then what problem does Narendra Gautam Das...sorry Damodardas...Modi have?"

Congress argued at the court that Khera's tongue had a slip at the conference, and he had apologised then itself.

Earlier on Thursday, Khera was forced to exit his flight to Chattisgarh and was whisked away by police. He, along with other Congress leaders, was leaving for a meeting of the All India Congress Committee, which is set to start on Friday. While being taken away, he said that it was a long battle, and he was ready to fight it.

Indian Express quoted Khera, "I was told there is a problem with your luggage, even though I only have one handbag. When I came down from the flight, I was told that you could not go. Then it was said – (Deputy Commissioner of Police) DCP will meet you. I've been waiting for a long time. There is no trace of rules, laws and reasons."

After Khera was removed, around 50 Congress leaders started a protest on the tarmac blocking the flight from taking off. "Modi jab jab darta hai, police ko aage karta hai (Whenever Modi is scared, he puts the police in front)," protesters sloganeered.

The Congress claimed in a tweet that top leaders, general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala were also on board.

The Congress referred to it as a "dictatorial" mindset and noted that ED raids in Chhattisgarh had previously been used to try to obstruct the plenary session. Jairam Ramesh, the general secretary in charge of communications, also criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying, "First ED raided Raipur, now @Pawankhera has been offloaded from Raipur by Delhi Police. Another name for dictatorship is Amit Shahi. The Modi government wants to disrupt our national convention. We are not afraid, will continue to fight for the countrymen."

Taking to Twitter, KC Venugopal said, "Modi govt is acting like a bunch of goons by deplaning @Pawankhera ji from the Delhi-Raipur flight and preventing him from joining the AICC Plenary. Using a flimsy FIR to restrict his movement & silence him is a shameful, unacceptable act. The entire party stands with Pawan ji."