Senior Congress Party leader arrested for combining PM Narendra Modi's name with Gautam Adani's

Colombo (News1st) - India's Supreme Court on Thursday stepped in and ordered bail for Pawan Khera, a spokesman for the main opposition Congress Party, who was dramatically taken off an IndiGo Airlines flight at Delhi Airport and arrested on charges of defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after Khera mispronounced the PM's name at a media conference, Indian media reported.

Khera had called Modi 'Narendra Gautamdas Modi'. It was not immediately clear if Khera had mispronounced Modi's middle name by accident or on purpose. Modi's full name is Narendra Damodardas Modi.

The PM has been linked to controversial embattled billionaire Gautam Adani, allegations Modi has denied.

Khera was with a delegation of Congress Party officials who were to fly for a party meeting in another city when he was taken off the plane on Thursday morning and arrested by Assam police. The party members then staged a sit-down protest on the tarmac of Delhi Airport.

The Congress Party condemned his arrest as "undemocratic and dictatorial" and immediately petitioned India's Supreme Court which ordered that he be released on bail by a lower court. He was released on INR 30,000 bail the same evening.