Gauhati HC rejects Khera's anticipatory bail plea

The Gauhati High Court rejected an anticipatory bail application from Congress leader Pawan Khera on Friday in a criminal case filed by Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, over allegations that she holds multiple foreign passports and undisclosed overseas assets.

The first information report, registered at Guwahati's Crime Branch Police Station, accuses Khera of defamation, cheating, forgery of documents and electronic records, and related offenses under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Khera, who chairs the Congress party's media and publicity department, made the claims during a press conference ahead of Assam's assembly elections earlier this month. He asserted that Bhuyan Sharma possessed passports from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Antigua and Barbuda, along with properties in Dubai and a company in Wyoming, United States. The Sarma family has denied the allegations, describing the supporting documents as fabricated and generated by artificial intelligence, possibly originating from social media accounts linked to Pakistan.

India's Ministry of External Affairs confirmed on April 23 that Bhuyan Sharma holds only a valid...