Supreme Court grants interim protection from arrest to actor Siddique in rape case

The Supreme Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to Malayalam cine actor Siddique in a rape case filed against him by an actress. [Siddique v State of Kerala and anr].A Bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma granted interim protection from arrest to Siddique while ordering him to make himself available for investigation.Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Siddique and highlighted the 8-year-delay in filing the complaint. "Others got bail and I am refused. A complaint was lodged in 2024 after 8 years. There are some Facebook posts. Just because I am a well known actor. He is a famous actor. He will be available for probe," Rohatgi said.The Court then proceeded to grant him interim protection."Issue notice, returnable after two weeks ... In the meantime, it is directed that in the event of arrest of the petitioner ,,, he shall be released on bail, subject to the conditions that may be imposed by the Trial Court and subject to his joining the investigation and remaining present before the Investigating Officer as and when called upon to do so, till the next date of hearing," the Court ordered..The Bench was hearing a plea by Siddique against an order passed by the Kerala High Court on September 24 rejecting bail to him. The allegations against the actor were made after the public release of the Justice K Hema Committee Report on August 19 this year.The report revealed large-scale sexual abuse, 'casting couch' practices, and entrenched gender discrimination in the Malayalam film industry.The publication of the redacted report has led to a wave of sexual abuse allegations against several actors, directors and other film personalities.The case against Siddique was registered based on a complaint by an actress who accused him of raping her at the Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016.The actress, who initially hesitated to file a police complaint, later emailed the State Police Chief alleging that Siddique raped her after she refused to give in to his demands for sexual favors in exchange for a role in a Tamil movie.The investigation into this case is being handled by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up to probe the sexual abuse cases emerging after the publication of the Justice Hema Committee report.After FIR was lodged, the actor absconded and moved the Kerala High Court for bail.In his petition seeking anticipatory bail before the High Court, Siddique claimed that the woman complainant has been harassing him since 2019 by making repeated claims on social media that he tried to sexually misbehave with her at a theatre in 2016.Further, she has now made a more serious allegation of rape at a different place the same year, the plea stated.The High Court eventually opined that the material placed on record prima facie showed that Siddique may be involved in the crime.It noted that his defence was one of total denial of the incident and the powerful actor may attempt to influence witnesses.Custodial interrogation of the actor is inevitable for a proper investigation of the case, it added while rejecting the plea.This led to the appeal before the top court filed through advocate Ranjeeta Rohatgi..During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Siddique and sought bail citing delay and parity with other accused in similar cases. Advocate Vrinda Grover appeared for the complainant and said that the delay in lodging the complaint was fully justified."We can explain the delay fully. Hema committee has to be understood in the larger context. Look at the language used. See his conduct. In 2014 she was 19 and he approached her on Facebook and liked her pics. In 2016 she was invited to a preview by a superstar. I have said in detail what happened in the hotel. This is about what happens when voice is raised against Harvey Weinstein like person," the Court stated.Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati appeared for the State of Kerala and opposed bail."There are some cases when there is no sunlight no sanitation. He has acted in 365 Malayalam movies. It is not possible (for victims) to talk about such perpetrators . SIT of senior officer constituted," Bhati said. .The Court after a brief hearing proceeded to grant relief to the actor. .[Read order]