Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty's father Surendra was granted provisional bail today by the sessions court in Mumbai in a case of alleged extortion, despite stiff opposition from the police and a non-bailable warrant issued by the chief judicial magistrate in Surat, Gujarat.

Sessions Judge P V Bavkar ordered Shetty's release on a bail of Rs 20,000 with one surety, or Rs 40,000 in cash, in the event of his arrest.

The judge also granted him transit bail and asked him to appear before a Surat court to seek regular bail on or before May 28.

Shetty, 62, and his wife Sunanda are charged with hiring gangsters to recover Rs 80 lakh (approximately US$170,000) reportedly due to Shilpa, who had modelled for an advertisement produced by Praful Sarees in 1998. They allegedly threatened Pankaj Agarwal, director of the company producing the saris.

Sunanda, who is abroad (accompanying Shilpa to the IIFA awards and the Cannes film festival, where the latter is performing), has not moved for anticipatory bail. She is likely to file an application when she returns, defence lawyers Jagdish Shah and H H Nagi told the court.

The Surat police informed the court that it had prima facie evidence of Shetty's involvement in the attempt to extort the dues from Agarwal and had allegedly tape-recorded a telephone conversation between him and the complainant in this regard. 

Assistant Police Inspector A A Damor, from the Umra police station, Surat, told the court the police had recorded a telephone conversation between Shetty and Agarwal, in which the latter mentioned a threatening call from a gangster to settle Shilpa's account for Rs 2 crore (US $425,000). Shetty told him to simply follow the instructions.

Shetty's lawyers said their client had not spoken to anybody on those lines. They said Agarwal had filed a false complaint to settle scores with the Shettys.

Shetty, a retired pilot, said he had not hired the underworld to recover the money due to his daughter. He said he would abide by the directions of the court and cooperate with the investigation.

Opposing his plea, prosecutor R V Kini said Shetty had taken the law into his hands by hiring gangsters. The recorded telephone conversation between the two showed his prima facie involvement, he said.

The Surat police had registered a case against Shilpa's parents and a Mumbai-based gangster. The gangster was
arrested and reportedly confessed to having been hired by them to recover the amount. 

Armed with a non-bailable warrant issued by a Surat court, a Gujarat police team was in Mumbai to arrest Shetty yesterday. Since he was not at home, they recorded the statements of his younger daughter, actress Shamita Shetty (Mohabbatein, Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai).

PTI