Complaint Lodged 8 Years After Incident: Supreme Court Grants Anticipatory Bail To Malayalam Actor Siddique In Rape Case
The Supreme Court allowed the appeal of Malayalam Actor Siddique challenging rejection of his anticipatory bail plea in an alleged rape case registered against him.
The Apex Court was considering an appeal directed against the judgment of the Kerala High Court rejecting the anticipatory bail application filed by the appellant – accused under Section 438 of the Cr.P.C. in connection with the F.I.R. registered under Sections 376 and 506 IPC.
The Division Bench comprising Justice Bela M. Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma asserted, “...the complainant had lodged the complaint almost eight years after the alleged incident, which had taken place in 2016 and the fact that she had also posted the post on facebook somewhere in 2018, making allegations against about 14 people, including the appellant with regard to the alleged sexual abuse…”
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi represented the Appellant while AOR Nishad L.S. represented the Respondents.
The complaint in this case had been lodged almost eight years after the alleged incident, which had taken place in 2016. The victim had also posted the post on Facebook somewhere in 2018, making allegations against about 14 people, including the appellant with regard to the alleged sexual abuse, as also the fact that she had not gone to the Justice Hema Committee constituted by the High Court of Kerala for ventilating her grievance.
In view of such circumstances, the Bench accepted the appeal and imposed certain conditions.
The Bench allowed the appeal and directed, “In the event of arrest of appellant in connection with the F.I.R. being Crime No.1192 of 2024 dated 27.08.2024 registered at Police Station Museum, District Thiruvananthapuram City, for the offence under Sections 376 and 506 IPC, he shall be released on bail, subject to the conditions that may be imposed by the Trial Court, including the condition that the appellant shall deposit the passport before the Trial Court and shall cooperate with the Investigating Officer in carrying out the investigation.”
Cause Title: Siddique v. State of Kerala & Anr. [Neutral Citation- 2024 INSC 877]
Appearance:
Appellant: Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi,Siddharth Aggarwal, AOR Ranjeeta Rohatgi
Respondents: AOR Nishad L.S., Advocate Ajeesh Kalathil Gopi, Senior Advocate Renjith Kumar, ASG Aishwarya Bhati, AOR Nishe Rajen Shonker, Advocates Vrinda Grover, Devika Tulsiani, AOR Aakarsh Kamra