By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Nainital, 6 Jan: The Uttarakhand High Court has granted interim relief to former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Suresh Rathore by staying his arrest in two of the four cases registered against him in Haridwar and Dehradun districts. After hearing the matter today, the single bench of Justice Ashish Naithani issued notices to the State Government and the complainants, directing them to file their responses within four weeks.
It may be recalled that multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) had been lodged against Suresh Rathore and his alleged wife, Urmila Sanawar, at Jhabreda and Bahadarabad police stations in Haridwar, as well as in Nehru Colony and Dalanwala police stations in Dehradun. The complainants alleged that audio and video clips were being circulated on Facebook and other social media platforms to tarnish the reputation of BJP’s National General Secretary Dushyant Gautam. The FIRs demanded strict legal action against Rathore and Sanawar for allegedly defaming the leader through these viral posts.
The petitioner, Suresh Rathore, challenged two of these cases in the High Court today. The petition sought the quashing of the FIRs and a stay on any potential arrest. Rathore claimed that he was not involved in any malicious propaganda against Dushyant Kumar Gautam on social media. Following the hearing, the Court granted an interim stay on his arrest in the cases registered at the Bahadarabad (Haridwar) and Dalanwala (Dehradun) police stations. Furthermore, the court issued notices to the State Government and the complainants, namely Dushyant Gautam, Dharmendra Kumar, Sanchit Kumar, and Aarti Gaur, to present their stand before the court.
The matter is linked to the Ankita Bhandari murder case, in which actress Urmila Sanawar had reportedly released certain audio and video recordings. These clips allegedly mentioned the names of various individuals, including the BJP Uttarakhand In-charge, Dushyant Gautam. Following the emergence of these recordings, Dushyant Gautam, Aarti Gaur, Sanchit Kumar, Dharmendra Kumar, and others lodged FIRs across different police stations, accusing Suresh Rathore of attempting to malign their public image.
Representing Suresh Rathore in the High Court, the legal counsel claimed that all the audio and video recordings released by the actress are entirely fabricated and that the former legislator has no connection with them whatsoever. The lawyer further alleged that the entire situation was orchestrated by Urmila Sanawar with the specific intent of damaging the reputation of Dushyant Gautam.
