Alleged sexual exploitation case: HC grants stay on arrest of woman, seeks Govt reply by Oct 12

The Uttarakhand high court has ordered a stay on the arrest of the woman who has accused the Dwarahat MLA Mahesh Negi of sexually exploiting her. The single bench of justice Ravindra Maithani has also directed the state government to submit its reply in the court by October 12.

In the previous hearing, the court has sought a copy of the Whatsapp chat between the woman and the MLA. During arguments on these chats, the counsel representing the MLA said that the woman had demanded money from the MLA. Objecting to this, the counsel representing the woman stated that the wife of the MLA had spoken of paying money, not his client. It will be recalled that the woman and two of her family members had lodged a petition in the high court seeking stay on their arrest and quashing of the FIR registered against them by the MLA’s wife in the Nehru Colony police station in Dehradun. The petitioners have claimed that the Dehradun police did not lodge their complaint but lodged an FIR on the basis of the complaint lodged by the MLA’s wife. The MLA’s wife has alleged that the woman was attempting to blackmail her husband. The MLA too has averred that the allegations are baseless, adding that some leaders of an opposition party are also involved in the conspiracy to frame him. 

Saturday, 05 September 2020 | PNS | Nainital