In a relief to veteran Malayalam actor Siddique, the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted him anticipatory bail in a rape case.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma said the veteran actor will have to deposit his passport and cooperate with the investigating officer in the probe.
The top court also took note of the fact that the complaint in the case was filed in August, eight years after the alleged incident took place in 2016.
"We deem it appropriate not to assign elaborate reasons, particularly considering the sensitivity of the case.
"However, considering the fact that the complainant had filed the complaint almost eight years after the alleged incident which had taken place in 2016 and the complainant had also posted the posts on Facebook somewhere in 2018 making allegations about 14 people, including the appellant, with regard to the alleged sexual abuse and also the fact that she had not gone to the Hema Committee, which was set up by the Government of Kerala, we are inclined to allow the present appeal subject to some conditions," the bench observed.
Questioning the complainant over the delay in lodging the complaint, the bench said, "She had the courage to make a post on Facebook in 2021 but could not go to police and lodge an FIR."
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Siddique, contended that his reputation is being tarnished and that he has not met the complainant since 2016.
"She has made allegations on social media against all and alleged sexual abuse. She named 14 people in 2018 on her social media post and tarnished my image and indulged in my character assassination," Rohatgi submitted.
The senior lawyer told the court that Siddique, 66, has been an actor since 1986.
Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Kerala government, said that since this court granted interim protection from arrest to Siddique, he has not been cooperating with the investigation.
"We need his custodial interrogation. We have examined 22 witnesses and many more remain to be examined. There is a prima facie case against him," Kumar argued.
Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for the complainant, submitted that she was first contacted by Siddique in 2014 after he liked her picture on Facebook.
She was invited for the preview of a movie at a theatre in 2016 from where she was taken to a hospital, Grover said.
The bench asked her whether the complainant has worked in movies.
"That's the fallout of the complaint. I have worked in some movies but after the complaint was made against him, I have not got much work in the industry," Grover said.
Rohatgi submitted that since the court granted Siddique interim protection from arrest, the investigating officer has called him twice for questioning and is asking for gadgets which the actor used in 2016.
"Nobody keeps a mobile phone and laptop for eight years. I don't have it. Since the complaint was made, I have kept my Facebook account in dormant state as a lot of comments were made," he submitted.
The bench then proceeded to pass the order granting relief to Siddique.
The court first granted interim protection from arrest to Siddique on September 30. Since then, the interim relief has been extended from time to time by the court.
On September 24, the Kerala high court rejected Siddique's anticipatory bail plea in the rape case, saying in view of the seriousness of the accusations, his custodial interrogation was inevitable for a proper investigation of the crime.
A status report filed by Ajichandran Nair, ACP, Narcotics Cell, Kerala Police stated the interim protection from arrest granted to Siddique had emboldened him besides demoralising and intimidating not only the complainant but also others in the film industry.
Police have said though the investigation is at an initial stage, there is a "stockpile of evidence" against Siddique.
Emphasising the need for Siddique's custodial interrogation, Kerala Police has said it was essential to expose his "lie of righteousness" before he went down in history as a hero and got "venerated by subsequent generations as worthy of emulation".
According to police, the actor, who has worked in over 350 Malayalam films, was trying to disrupt the smooth flow of the investigation by "working overtime to weaken the case".
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 has subjected him to a "prolonged campaign of harassment and false accusations" since 2019.
Multiple FIRs were registered against many high-profile personalities in the Malayalam film industry following allegations of sexual harassment against various directors and actors in the wake of the revelations made in the Justice (retired) Hema Committee report.
The committee was formed by the Kerala government after a 2017 actress assault case and it revealed instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry.
Following the allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation against several actors and directors, the state government announced the establishment of a seven-member Special Investigation Team to probe the charges on August 25.
