India, May 1 -- Invoking the Supreme Court's relief to Congress leader Pawan Khera in a case linked to remarks on Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife, senior Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Friday made a pointed appeal to the CM.

Reacting to the ruling, Singhvi said the order reinforces the principle that arrest must not be used routinely. He stressed that it should be "not the first but the last resort".

Noting that the Assam chief minister "may well head to a victory two days later or may not", pointing to the counting of votes for the assembly elections slates for May 4, Singhvi made an unusual, direct appeal to Sarma, referring to remarks attributed to him that were cited in the judgment.

"There is also a larger is...