Ahmedabad: On certain conditions, the Gujarat High Court on June 3 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 ruled that Shetty "won't 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 co-operate with the investigating agency.

The judge said if the public prosecutor wishes to file an affidavit challenging Shetty's anticipatory bail application, he might do so by June 13.

Advocate Prabhakar Upadhyay, appearing for Shetty, told reporters 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 reporters.

PTI