India, May 1 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday granted Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera protection from arrest in a case linked to allegations he made that Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, held foreign passports. The court said that personal liberty cannot be jeopardised by criminal proceedings that may be coloured by political rivalry.

In an order released on Friday, a bench of justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandurkar said individual liberty is a cherished fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution and the criminal process must be exercised with objectivity and caution.

"The criminal process must be applied with objectivity and circumspection so as to ensure that individual liberty is n...