Assam CM’s Wife Passport Controversy Escalates: FIR Filed Against Pawan Khera
FIR filed against Congress leader Pawan Khera over allegations about Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife holding foreign passports and assets.
GUWAHATI — The political storm surrounding Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, intensified on Monday as an FIR was registered against Congress leader Pawan Khera over allegations that she holds three foreign passports and undisclosed overseas assets.
The row began on April 5 when Pawan Khera, at a press conference in New Delhi, claimed that Riniki Bhuyan Sarma possesses passports from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (issued March 14, 2022, valid till March 13, 2027), Antigua and Barbuda (issued August 26, 2021, valid till August 25, 2031), and Egypt (issued February 13, 2022, valid till February 12, 2029).
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He further alleged she owns two properties in Dubai and has links to a company in Wyoming, USA, which were not disclosed in the Chief Minister’s election affidavits. Khera questioned her Indian citizenship and suggested the family might be preparing for contingencies ahead of the April 9 Assam Assembly elections. The Congress has demanded an Election Commission probe.
FIR Filed
Late on April 5 or early on April 6, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma filed a complaint, leading to the registration of Case No. 4/26 by the Assam Police Crime Branch. The FIR invokes 12 sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), primarily related to forgery, cheating, criminal conspiracy, and using fabricated documents. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma confirmed the FIR and warned that presenting forged documents to influence elections could attract severe punishment, including provisions that may lead to life imprisonment in extreme cases.
CM’s Strong Rebuttal
Himanta Biswa Sarma has categorically rejected the allegations as “malicious, fabricated, and politically motivated.” In a detailed presentation titled “How the truth was uncovered,” he pointed out six major anomalies in the documents shown by Congress, including mismatches in surname spelling (Sharma vs Sarma), UAE ID details, nationality, photo alignment, place of birth, and formatting errors.
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He claimed the passport images were sourced from a Pakistani social media group, digitally altered (possibly using AI and Photoshop), and inserted with his wife’s details. Sarma asserted that verification through diplomatic channels and the UAE authorities confirmed at least one document (the UAE passport) as fake — the photo does not match his wife and belongs to another person.
The Chief Minister and his wife have announced they will file both criminal and civil defamation suits against Pawan Khera within 48 hours. Riniki Bhuyan Sarma publicly dismissed the claims, saying the documents were poorly photoshopped and remarking that “a mad dog has bitten them.” She accused the Congress of running a sustained defamation campaign against her family despite her having no direct role in politics.
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Congress Response
Pawan Khera has stood firm on the allegations and stated that the party will present more evidence in the coming days. Assam Congress leaders, including Gaurav Gogoi, have continued to raise questions about transparency, foreign assets, and possible violations of citizenship laws, that is India does not permit dual citizenship. The party maintains that the issue concerns accountability in the CM’s election affidavits and has indicated it will approach the Election Commission.
The BJP has described the Congress move as a “desperate smear campaign” by a weakening opposition in the final days before the single-phase Assam Assembly polls on April 9. No independent verification of the original documents presented by the Congress has been reported by authorities so far, and the Assam Police investigation is ongoing.
The controversy has dominated political discourse and social media in poll-bound Assam, with both sides accusing each other of misinformation and electoral malpractices. The development is expected to remain a flashpoint in the campaign’s closing stages. This remains a fast-evolving story, with further updates likely depending on the progress of the police probe, any court proceedings, and possible intervention by the Election Commission.
