Lucknow, July 1 -- The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday granted interim protection to retired Justice Anil Kumar and his wife Vandana Srivastava in a case related to the suicide of their domestic help. The couple was accused of abetting the suicide of their help, Mahesh Nishad, by levelling allegations of theft against him. Mahesh's wife, Kavita Nishad, filed an FIR against the two on April 2 this year. The court observed that prima facie, there was an absence of ingredients constituting the offence of abetment to suicide. The court granted interim protection to the couple, restraining their arrest until further orders. The court directed the state government to file a counter-affidavit within four weeks. Advocate Pranshu Agarwal, the couple's counsel, argued that Mahesh had admitted to stealing Rs 6.5 lakh from their house and agreed to return the money. He committed suicide 13 days after the agreement, which suggests that the couple did not abet his suicide, the counsel argued. The state government will file a counter-affidavit within four weeks, responding to the couple's petition. The court will consider the matter further after receiving the counter-affidavit and may decide on the petition to quash the FIR. htc...