Ahmedabad, Jun 03: On certain conditions, the Gujarat High Court today gave "interim protection" to Surendra Shetty, father of actress Shilpa Shetty, facing arrest in a case of alleged extortion registered against him and two others by Surat police. The court also fixed June 17 as the next date of hearing.
Justice A H Mehta, hearing Shetty's bail petition, ruled that Shetty "would not be arrested" until June 17 but directed him to surrender his passport to the investigating officer in the case by June 5 and asked him to appear before police within 24 hours of intimation.
The court also restrained Shetty from tampering with evidence and asked him to co-operate with the investigating agency. The judge said that if the public prosecutor wishes to file an affidavit challenging Shetty's anticipatory bail application, he may do so by June 13.
Advocate Prabhakar Upadhyay, appearing for Shetty, told mediapersons that Shetty would co-operate with investigation and appear before police whenever necessary. However, he refused to comment as to where Shetty was at present, despite repeated queries from mediapersons. Bureau Report