The Gujarat high court on Tuesday 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 the Surat police.

Hearing the bail petition, Justice A H Mehta ruled that Shetty 'would not 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 the police within 24 hours.

The court also restrained Shetty from tampering with evidence and asked him to co-operate with the investigating agency.

The judge said the public prosecutor could file an affidavit challenging Shetty's anticipatory bail application by June 13.

Advocate Prabhakar Upadhyay, appearing for Shetty, told mediapersons that the latter would co-operate with the investigation and appear before police whenever necessary.

However, he refused to reveal Shetty's whereabouts, despite repeated queries from mediapersons.

The court fixed June 17 as the next date of hearing.

Shilpa Shetty's parents - Surendra and Sunanda - had allegedly hired a gangster to recover Rs 80 lakh (Rs eight million) from a businessman owed to their daughter who had modelled for the company a few years back.

Surendra Shetty had moved the high court after his bail plea was rejected by a Surat court.