NEW DELHI: In a major relief to Malayalam actor, Siddique, the Supreme Court on Monday granted him interim protection from arrest in a rape case.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma issued notice to the Kerala government and the victim in the case during the hearing of a plea by Siddique challenging a Kerala High Court order which denied him anticipatory bail.
At the outset, the top court asked senior advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for the victim, about the reason for the delay in registering the complaint against the actor.
The lawyer told the bench that the Justice Hema Committee report, which exposed the shocking harassment and sexual exploitation faced by women in the Malayalam film industry, has to be understood in the larger context.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Siddique, submitted that a complaint was lodged in 2024 after a lapse of eight years.
The Malayalam actor, Siddique had moved the apex court, after the high court had on September 24 rejected his anticipatory bail plea in the sexual assault case registered against him.
The HC had denied him interim relief of anticipatory bail, after noting that the seriousness of the accusations he was facing, his custodial interrogation was inevitable for proper investigation of the crime.
The HC also noted that since Siddique’s defence was “a total denial of the incident”, his potency test was yet to be conducted and there being a “reasonable apprehension” that he may intimidate witnesses and tamper with evidence.
“It was not a fit case to exercise the discretionary powers of the court to grant him the relief,” the HC said in its order, and dismissed his anticipatory bail, forcing him to approach the top court for relief.
On the other hand, the accused had claimed in his anticipatory bail plea before the high court, that the victim had repeatedly, for the past five years, made unsubstantiated and false claims of sexual misbehaviour and “verbal sexual offers” by him in a theatre in 2016.
“There is even inordinate delay in registering the complaint in the case,” Siddique claimed.
A case was registered against Siddique, for offences under sections 376 (Rape) and 506 (Criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Siddique has claimed in his plea that the complainant female actor had subjected him to a “prolonged campaign of harassment and false accusations since 2019”.
Before the HC, the victim’s lawyer, opposed his anticipatory bail plea, and had told that the state police was allegedly not conducting a proper probe. The police could not arrest the actor, due to his alleged influence in the case. The cops so far, also not recovered the electronic evidence.
“Siddique’s custodial interrogation was necessary as he had committed a heinous crime,” the victim submitted to the HC, while opposing his anticipatory bail plea.
Siddique, who was booked for offences under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), has claimed in his plea that the complainant female actor had subjected him to a “prolonged campaign of harassment and false accusations since 2019”.
Multiple FIRs have been registered against many high-profile Malayalam film personalities following allegations of sexual harassment against them in the wake of revelations made in the Justice K Hema Committee report.