In a big relief to Malayalam actor Siddique, the Supreme Court on September 30 granted him an interim protection from arrest in a rape case registered against him based on allegations by a Malayalam actress. The bench had later extended the interim protection on subsequent hearings. Today the top court granted him pre-arrest bail.

The top court also took note of the fact that the complaint in the case was filed in August, eight years after the alleged incident took place in 2016.

This particular article contains information regarding sexual assault which might be triggering for some readers.  Malayalam actor Siddique has finally been granted anticipatory bail by the Supreme Court,

Veteran Malayalam actor Siddique received anticipatory bail from the Supreme Court amidst a rape case. Despite the complaint being lodged eight years post-incident, accusations surfaced on social media in 2018.

The Supreme Court bench, however, wondered why the complainant took eight years to approach Kerala Police when actor Siddique had allegedly raped her in 2016.

Siddique, who was booked for offences under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), had claimed in his plea that complainant woman had subjected him to a "prolonged campaign of harassment and false accusations since 2019.

Supreme Court orders bail for actor Siddique in sexual abuse case, citing delayed complaint and lack of evidence.

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.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Malayalam actor Siddique in a rape case. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma ruled that the veteran actor would need to deposit his passport and cooperate with the investigating officer in the ongoing probe.