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Nexus Malls executive director Anil Malhotra gets bail in sexual harassment case
Nexus Malls executive director Anil Malhotra had been accused of stalking, sexually harassment and blackmail by his former coworker; he is also named in the criminal case registered last week after mall officials barricaded the entrance of the food court following a dispute with the lessee.
Three days after his arrest in a sexual harassment case, Anil Malhotra, a top executive with Nexus Malls, which owns Elante Mall, was granted bail by a local court on Monday.
The complainant, who was Malhotra’s former co-worker, had alleged that he had been stalking, sexually harassing, threatening and blackmailing her. She had also alleged that Malhotra had sent some abusive text messages to her and her husband, and stalked her when she had visited the Elante mall, which is owned by the Nexus group, a few times.
On her complaint, Malhotra was booked under Sections 354 (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking), 294 (obscene acts and songs), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Industrial Area police station, and arrested.
He had been produced in the court of chief judicial magistrate Aman Inder Singh on Thursday and sent to three-day police remand, which ended on Monday.
In the petition, senior advocate and former advocate general, Punjab, APS Deol said, “The complainant leveled false and frivolous allegations against the petitioner. He (Malhotra) is a victim of a well-hatched conspiracy and the complaint was filed due to their bitter rivalry.”
Malhotra is also named in the criminal case registered last week after mall officials barricaded the entrance of the food court following a dispute with the lessee.
The counsel stated: “The lessee, in well-designed conspiracy and very clandestinely through the complainant, moved the complaint in the same police station in order to damage his (Malhotra’s) reputation.”
He further stated in the petition that Gupta and the present complainant got this FIR registered with an ulterior motive, to falsely implicate the petitioner. Detailed order is awaited.
