PM Modi Name Remark: No Supreme Court Relief For Pawan Khera (image: facebook.com/pawankherainc)
The Supreme Court on Thursday turned down Congress Spokesperson Pawan Khera“s plea to quash of criminal proceedings against him on an alleged objectional remark against Prime Minister Narender Modi in February last year. His controversial remark on Modi”s surname as “Narendra Gautam Das Modi” made at a press conference in Mumbai resulted in the trial.
Hearing the appeal, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta observed that they are not inclined to interfere; “We are not inclined to entertain the matter. There are concurrent orders passed refusing to interfere,” the Times of India quotes as the Court is saying.
Pawan Khera had reached the Supreme Court because his plea was rejected by the Allahabad High Court on August 17 of the previous year. Rejecting the appeal, the High Court then claimed that the proof collected by the investigating officer of the case cannot be assessed in petition filed under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for repealing the case.
On October 16, the Supreme Court issued notice to Uttar Pradesh government requesting its response in canceling the proceedings against him. Before, on March 20 last year, the apex court had consolidated three FIRs filed against Congress Spokesperson in Assam and Uttar Pradesh for his remarks against Prime Minister and transferred the matter to the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow while giving his interim bail.
His remark led filing several First Information Reports (FIRs) against him , and following his arrest by the Assam Police. Pawan Khera is facing charges under Sections 153A (promoting communal enmity), 153B (imputations prejudicial to national integration), 500 (defamation), 504 (insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Considering the gravity of the matter, he has expressed unconditional apology in court over his remark.
