NEW DELHI, Sept 9: The Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan, who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police while he was on his way to Hathras following the gang rape and gruesome murder of a dalit girl, was on Friday granted conditional bail by the Supreme Court.
Kappan was in the custody for nearly two years and is accused of offences under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit directed the State of Uttar Pradesh to produce Kappan before the trial court within three days for release on bail subject to conditions that would ensure his presence in the trial.
The Bench directed that Kappan would remain in Delhi for six weeks immediately following his release and report to the local police station every Monday. At the end of the six weeks, he would be at liberty to re-locate to his native place, Malappuram, in Kerala. He would continue to mark his presence in the local police station there on Mondays.
Kappan would be present either in person or through his lawyer at every date of his trial in the case. He should surrender his passport to the investigating agency, if not already done. He should not get in touch with any person associated with the case. The court said restrictions on his movement could be relaxed, if need be in order to allow him to attend proceedings or seek bail in a money laundering case initiated against him.
The court refrained from commenting in its order about the progress of the investigation or the prosecution material against Kappan, saying the charges in the case were yet to be filed though the charge-sheet was submitted in the trial court way back in April 2021. The bench said Kappan was eligible for bail on the basis of the length of the custody undergone and the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case.
The UP government through its advocate Mahesh Jethmalani had objected to his bail plea saying that Kappan was the “agent provocateur” of the ‘terror gang PFI,” financed and sent to incite riots in Hathras following the alleged gang rape of the dalit girl. His attempt was “nipped in the bud” when the police arrested him along with three others while travelling in a car to Hathras on October 5, 2020.” Jethmalani had also alleged that the “literature” found in the car contained messages like ‘Justice for Hathras’ and “optics to stir up feelings”. There was allegedly a “toolkit” or a “riot incitement handbook.”
(Manas Dasgupta)