Malayalam actor Siddique receives relief in rape case, Supreme Court extends interim protection

The Supreme Court has deferred the hearing of Siddique's bail petition in the rape case to next week, granting the delay at the request of his lawyer, Mukul Rohatgi.

A bench of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma extended the interim order issued on September 30, which had granted Siddique interim protection from arrest in the case. The court also directed him to continue cooperating with the ongoing investigation.

The Kerala government had previously informed the court that Siddique was not cooperating with the investigation. Officials from Kerala also stated that he had been unwilling to answer several crucial questions related to the case.

At the outset, Rohatgi informed the court that the investigating agency had been repeatedly questioning Siddique about his phone and laptop from 2016, which he no longer possesses. He also stated that Siddique had met the complainant only once and that the probe agency was now demanding his passport and Aadhaar number.

On October 22, the Supreme Court extended Siddique's interim protection from arrest for another two weeks. A bench of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma also allowed Siddique to file his rejoinder affidavit in response to the status report submitted by the Kerala Police, which accused him of not cooperating with the investigation.

Siddique had previously requested additional time to file a rejoinder affidavit in response to the status report filed by the Kerala Police. He claimed that he has been fully cooperating with the police's investigation.

When Justice Trivedi noted that the complaint was filed eight years after the alleged incident, Ranjit Kumar, representing the victim, explained the background related to the Justice Hema Committee's report on the abuses faced by women in the Malayalam film industry. Kumar stated that the victim found the courage to come forward with her allegations following the publication of the Hema Committee report and urged the Court to consider this context in understanding the delay in filing the FIR.

"From 2018 onwards, she has been consistently posting on Facebook," Kumar added. He further submitted that Siddique had destroyed his electronic devices and deactivated his social media accounts in an attempt to obstruct the investigation.

Kumar also highlighted that thirty FIRs have been filed by other women actors, expressing that they feel demoralized by the grant of protection to Siddique.

Kumar expressed his concerns, stating, "My apprehension is two-fold. First, he is not cooperating. When he comes, he presents a prepared statement, claiming he won't answer any further questions and that he can't recollect certain details. Second, after the FIR was filed, he deactivated his Facebook account, making it difficult for us to access his social media. We now have to approach third parties to retrieve any information."

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Advocate Vrinda Grover, representing the complainant, stated that the victim had been consistently raising the issue on her Facebook account since 2018. She added, "It is difficult to go against a superstar in the industry," emphasizing that the victim had already faced significant personal consequences for speaking out. Grover further pointed to the Justice Hema Committee's report, which highlighted that compromise and adjustment have been a recurring pattern within the industry.