New Delhi: A Supreme Court bench comprising justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma granted anticipatory bail to Malayalam film actor Siddique in an alleged rape case, on Tuesday.
The bench questioned why did the complainant remain silent for 8 years? Also, her allegations follow the release of Justice Hema Committee report on sexual harassment and gender inequality against women in Malayalam cinema, it added.
The bench said: “considering the fact that the complainant had lodged the complaint almost 8 years after the alleged incident, which had taken place in 2016, and she had also posted the post on Facebook somewhere in 2018 making allegations against 14 people including the appellant with regard to alleged sexual abuse….as also the fact that she had not gone to the Hema Committee for ventilating her grievance, which was set up by the High Court of Kerala”.
“We are inclined to accept the present appeal subject to the conditions…..in event of arrest of appellant he shall be released on bail subject to conditions imposed by the trial court”, said the bench, in its order, adding that Siddique will have to deposit his passport.
During the hearing, Trivedi queried, the complainant had the courage to post the complaint on Facebook but did not go to the police?
Advocate Vrinda Grover, representing the complainant, argued that her posts on social media were an attempt to speak out about the incident. She added that the complainant faced immense backlash from Siddique's followers.
The apex court was informed that following the Justice Hema Committee report and the Kerala High Court's intervention on matters arising out of the report the complainant found the courage to file a complaint. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Siddique, contended that the complainant has made similar allegations against "all and sundry". Rohatgi pressed that Siddique was not guilty of any wrongdoing.
Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, representing the Kerala government, vehemently argued that Siddique is not cooperating with the authorities. Kumar, after the apex court allowed Siddique’s appeal, requested the bench to direct that the public prosecutor must be heard before bail conditions are set by the trial court.
“We are not saying anything. We do not know the practice there and have it said in other orders. This is not a special law. We will not make any exception in their case….”, said the bench, concluding the hearing in the matter.
The apex court passed the order on a plea by Siddique against an order passed by the Kerala High Court on September 24, declining to grant him bail.
The case against Siddique arose in the wake of the Hema Committee report on sexual harassment and gender inequality against women in Malayalam cinema.
The complainant, a young actor, had raised the allegation through the media, following the release of the report. The woman filed a complaint with Thiruvananthapuram city police and an FIR was registered under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. The complainant alleged that the crime occurred in 2016 at a Thiruvananthapuram hotel. Siddique has denied the allegations, calling it a "criminal conspiracy to tarnish the reputation of the entire Malayalam film industry".
