The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to noted Malayalam actor Siddique in a rape case registered against him based on allegations made by a young actress.

A bench comprising Justice Bela Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma made the interim anticipatory bail, granted on September 30, absolute.

In its decision, the Supreme Court bench highlighted the eight-year delay in filing the First Information Report (FIR) as a key reason for granting bail.

“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 took place in 2016, and the complainant had also posted on Facebook in 2018 making allegations against 14 people, including the appellant, regarding the alleged sexual abuse, and also the fact that she had not gone to the Hema Committee set up by the Government of Kerala, we are inclined to accept the present appeal,” the apex court said in its order.

The relief is granted subject to the condition that Siddique must deposit his passport with the trial court and cooperate with the investigation. The trial court is also at liberty to set other conditions for the anticipatory bail.5

The Kerala High Court had denied Siddique anticipatory bail on September 24, citing the seriousness of the charges, following which the police in Kerala issued an arrest warrant. Siddique then approached the Supreme Court, which granted him interim protection from arrest.

The Kerala Police alleged that Siddique was not cooperating with the investigation. In its status report, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kerala Police claimed that the veteran actor was hindering the investigation by destroying electronic devices and deleting his social media accounts.

The complainant, in her complaint, alleged that the actor raped her at the Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016. The offences mentioned in the FIR registered against him are under Section 376 (rape) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Special Investigation Team is currently probing the case.

The complaint arose as a result of the Justice Hema Commission report, which detailed the sexual harassment and discrimination faced by women actors in Malayalam cinema.