Former joint secretary of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, Alpesh Shah facing his probable arrest in connection with the alleged sexual molestation of an under-19 female cricket today got a brief reprieve with Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday deferring its decision on the interim bail plea of Shah till December 30 this month.
Following rejection of his earlier plea before the High Court seeking quashing of an FIR filed against the victim with the Tukoganj police, Shah through his counsel moved the High Court on Thursday tabling a letter of agreement between him and the victim with later accepting his apology letter in connection with the case.
Taking a cognizance of the agreement letter, the High Court directed city police to desist from arresting Shah till December 30, asking the victim or her relatives to submit her please before the court by December 30 before taking a final decision in the interim bail plea of Shah.
The High Court has also directed city police to review the agreement reached between the victim and the accused on the sexual molestation row before the designated MPCA panel few days back and make the High Court aware of its findings before December 30.
Few days back, Shah had got a respite from the MPCA probe against him following the victim accepting his apology letter before the MPCA panel where the victim had gone to record her statement. However, as the case against him continued in the police, Shah continued to dodge his arrest despite city police launching an intensive search against him in the past few days.
Following registration of case against him by the victim with Tukoganj police station, Shah had moved the High Court on Wednesday last seeking quashing of FIR registered against him by the victim. A bench of Justice JK Maheshwari turned down Shah’s request on the ground that the girl had already recorded her statement in the matter before police and a local court under section 164 and directed the police to go ahead with its probe asking it that it may arrest Shah under section 41 of the CrPC if it is satisfied with its findings.