New Delhi

The Supreme Court of India on Friday declined to grant interim protection to Pawan Khera in a case filed in Assam over remarks concerning the wife of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The court refused to entertain Khera’s plea seeking protection from coercive action till April 20 and instead directed him to approach a competent court in Assam for anticipatory bail.

A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar asked the Assam court hearing the matter to decide Khera’s application expeditiously. It also said any adverse observations made earlier by the Supreme Court or the Telangana High Court should not influence consideration of his bail plea.

The matter stems from a press conference held on April 5, where Khera alleged that Riniki Bhuyan Sharma had multiple passports and foreign properties that were not disclosed in Sarma’s election affidavit ahead of the April 9 Assembly polls. Both Sarma and his wife denied the allegations, calling them false and fabricated.

Earlier, on April 15, the Supreme Court had stayed a Telangana High Court order granting Khera one-week transit anticipatory bail.

Appearing for the Assam government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the Telangana High Court lacked territorial jurisdiction to hear the matter.

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The case was registered by the Guwahati Crime Branch Police Station under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to false statements in connection with an election, right of private defence, and cheating.