Danseuse Mallika Sarabhai on Wednesday got a reprieve after an Ahmedabad court granted her a conditional anticipatory bail in an alleged US visa racket case.

Additional City and Sessions Court Judge P B Desai, while granting the bail, asked her to surrender her passport and not leave Gujarat without permission.

Sarabhai, who was granted bail on a personal surety of Rs 100,000, was also directed to remain present at the Naranpura police station, where a complaint has been lodged against her, on November 1 between 1000 IST and 1200 IST.

The court had reserved its order on the danseuse's plea after hearing the arguments of her lawyer R K Shah and public prosecutor J M Panchal on October 24.

In its observation, the court said, "No doubt that these allegations are serious in nature and need thorough investigation. But one cannot lose track of the fact that the complainant (Manushee Shah) sat over the complaint for such a long time and lodged it only recently."

"Also of concern is that the applicant (Sarabhai) had reportedly threatened the complainant and forced her and other troupe members to sing tunes in her favour," Desai observed.

On October 21, the police had registered an offence under sections 420 and 409 against Sarabhai, one "agent" Dhimant Upadhyay, the Darpana Academy and its employees after Shah alleged that the danseuse had duped her by not repaying an amount payable for cancellation of a US tour.