Mumbai: Noted Bollywood director Madhur Bhandarkar, in the eye of a storm over the charge of raping a model-turned-actress and threatening to kill her, was today (July 30, 2004) granted anticipatory bail by a sessions court.

Principal Judge R R Vachha noted that in the event of Bhandarkar's arrest, he should be released on a bail of Rs 20,000 with one or two sureties of same amount.

The judge, however, directed Bhandarkar to attend the concerned police station regularly and not leave the limits of the city until investigations were over.

Moments after securing bail, Bhandarkar told reporters his faith in the judiciary was vindicated. The Director said he "relieved" and said truth will prevail in the case.

Reacting to the court's verdict, the complainant, Preeti Jain, told reporters that Bhandarkar was "just a criminal who is out on bail," and said she had faith in the city's police.

Jain said she wanted the investigations to get over at the earliest in order to bring out the truth.

Bhandarkar urged for bail as he apprehended arrest in a complaint filed by Jain at Versova police station alleging that he had raped her.

The complainant alleged that the Director had sexually molested her 16 times in the last five years on the pretext of giving her role in his film and even marrying her but had backed out of his promise.