The Supreme Court granted temporary relief to Malayalam actor Siddique and extended his interim anticipatory bail by another week on Tuesday. The hearing on the actor’s bail petition was adjourned after his counsel complained of ill-health.
Hearing the anticipatory bail plea of the actor in a rape case, a bench comprising Justices Bela Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma enquired whether the actor was appearing before investigators for probe. The state government informed the apex court that though the actor appeared for interrogation, he was not cooperative and his responses were evasive.
The actor informed the bench that the Kerala police was asking him to hand over his personal devices used in 2016 despite informing the police of his inability to do so. Justice Sharma asked the state government how could a person hand over a device used in 2016. “Material and question are two different things. He is saying you want the 2016 iPhone. As per my personal experience, I bought an iPhone 16 giving my iPhone 15 back in the shop," Live Law reported quoting the bench.
Actor Siddique is facing charges for allegedly sexually assaulting a young actress in the Malayalam industry. The apex court granted Siddique interim protection from arrest after the Kerala High Court dismissed his bail pleas saying prima facie, there was evidence for his involvement.
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The actress levelled the allegations soon after the Kerala government released the Hema Committee report in August this year. The charges forced Siddique to resign from the post of general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA). The Kerala police have registered a case against the actor under IPC sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
The Kerala police has formed a Special Investigation Team to probe allegations of sexual harassment which came to light after the release of the Hema Committee report. Police have so far registered 17 cases against various artists and technicians from the Malayalam film industry, including Siddique.