Lucknow, May 23 -- The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has stayed criminal proceedings against Congress MP Rakesh Rathore. He was arrested on charges of sexual exploitation in a rape case. The court stayed the entire proceedings of the case tillnext date of its listing and directed to list this case in the week commencing July 28, 2025. Justice Subhash Vidyarthi passed the order on May 20 after hearing Rathore's revision plea, challenging the trial court's order dated May 5, which rejected the discharge application of Rathore. The court also stayed the May 5 order till the next date of listing. The petitioner's counsel submitted that after completing investigation of the case, a chargesheet was filed before the trial court, which then framed charges against Rathore on May 16. Referring to the rulings, the counsel contended that the alleged charges were not made out against accused Rathore. He submitted that the informant is a married woman aged 49 years, she runs a school as per her own version..., and one of her sons is already married. The revisionist is also a married person aged 60 years. The persons who have come forward to give their statements supporting the informant's allegation that the revisionist has sexually exploited her under a false promise of marriage, are the informant's husband, son and daughter-in-law. In these circumstances, the allegation that the revisionist raped the informant under allurement of marrying her, is apparently absurd, the counsel added. On the other hand, the revision plea was opposed by the state counsel. They submitted that the probative value of evidence cannot be scrutinised by the trial court at the time of deciding the discharge application or framing of charges and it cannot be done by this Court while entertaining a revision against an order rejecting a discharge application. They also submitted that there is sufficient material to support the charges levelled against the revisionist which make a case for trial of the revisionist. The merits of the case will be decided by the trial court after giving an opportunity to the prosecution as well as to the defence for leading evidence in support of their respective case, the state counsel contended. The court said in its order "Keeping in view the peculiar facts of the case where a 49-year-old married lady having her husband, a married son and a daughter-in-law by her side,...... claims that the revisionist, who is a marriedman aged about 60 years, sexually exploited her repetitively since the year 2020 under an allurement of divorcing his wife and marrying the informant; that the persons whoare supporting this allegation of the informant are herown husband, son and daughter-in-law and all of them have stated that the revisionist has committed an offence against the informant by not marrying her; that it is nobody's case thatthe informant had everpromised to divorce her husband, without which the married informant cannot marry any other person and also keeping in view the great haste shown by the trial court infirst granting time to therevisionist on 13.05.2025 forfiling a revision before this Court and thereafter proceeding to frame charges on 16.05.2025 even though the trial court was informed that the present revision has already been filed on 15.05.2025, I am of the view that a case for grant of interim relief is made out and the proceedings of the trial court deserve to be stayed"....