India, Jan. 6 -- The Uttarakhand high court on Tuesday granted interim relief to former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Suresh Rathore, staying his arrest in cases registered against him for his alleged statements linking a senior party leader to the 2022 Pauri Garhwal receptionist murder case.

Justice Ashish Naithani barred the police from taking any coercive action against the former MLA in connection with cases filed at the Bahadrabad police station in Haridwar district and Nehru Colony police station in Dehradun district.

The court also issued notices to the state government and the complainants, seeking their responses within four weeks.

Lawyer Vaibhav Singh Chauhan, who appeared for Suresh Rathore, challenged the police cas...