SC to hear Pawan Khera’s plea

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea of Congress leader Pawan Khera seeking transfer and clubbing of FIRs lodged against him in Assam and Uttar Pradesh for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud on Friday deferred the hearing on Khera’s plea to March 20 after taking note of submissions that senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the Congress leader, was unavailable.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Uttar Pradesh and Assam, urged the bench that the matter can be taken up for hearing on Monday instead of Friday.

“Ok, we will take it up on Monday,” said the bench, which also comprises justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala.

The apex court had earlier extended the interim bail of Khera, who was arrested by Assam Police in the case, till March 17.

Earlier, Assam and Uttar Pradesh governments, in their separate affidavits, opposed Khera’s plea seeking clubbing of FIRs lodged against him, claiming that his party was still continuing with the “very same low level” on their social media accounts.

The Uttar Pradesh government sought dismissal of the plea with a cost by terming it “misconceived” and “an attempt to leapfrogging the routine procedure available under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)”.