Supreme Court issues notice to UP govt on Siddique Kappan bail plea

Journalist Siddique Kappan faces serious allegations of terror funding under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and is in custody for nearly two years

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to respond to the bail plea of arrested journalist Siddique Kappan by Monday and posted the matter for hearing on September 9 to take a final call on releasing the scribe.

Supreme Court of India. (PTI File Photo)

Kappan faces serious allegations of terror funding under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and is in custody for nearly two years.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Uday Umesh Lalit and S Ravindra Bhat, while issuing notice on the plea, told the state represented by additional advocate general (AAG) Garima Parshad, “Whatever you want to place on record, file it by Monday. Any rejoinder (reply affidavit) by petitioner also be filed in three days for the matter to be disposed on September 9.”

Kappan was arrested on October 5, 2020 on his way to Hathras where he was travelling along with others to cover an incident of rape and murder of a Dalit girl. The police alleged that he received funds to fan communal violence over the Hathras incident as those travelling with him in a car were members of Muslim fundamentalist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI).

He was charged under section 17 (raising funds for terrorist act) and section 18 (criminal conspiracy) of the UAPA, besides sedition (section 124A) and other offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Appearing for Kappan said, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, “It is an unfortunate case where the petitioner is in jail since October 6, 2020. They have accused me of procuring ₹45,000 for terrorist activities. I was at one time working with a newspaper Thejus, associated with PFI, but I was going there as a journalist. And PFI is not a banned organization.”

Thejus shut down in 2018 and since then he worked as a casual reporter for regional Malayalam dailies.

The bench wished to know if the other accused who were arrested with Kappan were also in custody. Parshad informed the court that of the eight persons arrested in the case, all except the driver of the car in which the petitioner was travelling to Hathras, are in custody.

Kappan approached the top court against the order by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on February 2 dismissing his bail plea.

“The petitioner, a journalist of 12 years’ experience…has spent almost two years behind bars, on the basis of trumped-upcharges, only because he sought to discharge his professional duty of reporting on the infamous case of the Hathras rape/murder,” the plea said.

Sibal stated that on two prior occasions, the Supreme Court granted bail for a brief period of five days for the purpose of visiting his ailing mother and for receiving treatment for Covid-19. During this period, Kappan said, “There was no allegation made that he attempted to contravene the conditions imposed or sought to tamper with evidence or threaten/ intimidate witnesses.”