Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s wife, Aaliya Siddiqui, had filed a molestation case against him and his family nearly a decade ago. On Thursday, the 49-year-old actor and his family members were granted a clean chit by the court.

The special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court accepted a police closure report that cleared Nawazuddin and the other four accused. Aaliya had been ordered to appear in court multiple times, including to respond to the clean chit, but her failure to do so led to the acceptance of the closure report by special judge Ritesh Sachdeva.

Initially filed in Mumbai, Aaliya’s FIR against Nawazuddin and his family was later transferred to the Budhana police station in Muzaffarnagar in 2020. According to government counsel Pradeep Balyan, Aaliya alleged that Nawazuddin’s brother Minazuddin molested a minor in 2012, with the actor and other family members allegedly supporting him.

After an extensive investigation, the police filed a report last year exonerating the actor and his family of all allegations. The closure report gave a clean chit to Nawazuddin, his mother Mehrunisa and brothers Faizuddin, Ayazuddin and Minazuddin.

Nawazuddin and Aaliya have faced marital troubles for some time. In May 2020, Aaliya sent a divorce notice to the actor, but a year later, she withdrew it in an attempt to reconcile. However, in 2023, the couple separated again. Aaliya was also in another relationship, but in March of this year, she announced that she and Nawazuddin were willing to set aside their differences for the sake of their children. The couple has been married for 15 years.