Supreme Court issues notice on bail plea of Kerala journalist Sidhique Kappan

The UP government counsel opposed Kappan's bail petition before the bench and added some of the accused in the matter are also accused in the Delhi riots case

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on a plea for bail filed by Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, who along with three others were arrested on October 5, 2020, by the Uttar Pradesh police under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act while he was on his way to Hathras, where a Dalit woman was gang-raped and murdered.

A bench, presided over by Chief Justice U U Lalit and Justice S Ravindra Bhat, told the state government counsel that whatever it wanted to say must be filed in a written response and the court would take up the matter on September 9 for final disposal.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that he was in jail for allegedly having received Rs 40,000 from Popular Front of India, which is not a terror organisation, though no evidence was produced.

"I am a journalist, I worked for an organisation which had PFI links. I am not working there now," Sibal said on behalf of Kappan.

The UP government counsel said there were eight accused in the case and the charge sheet has been filed. One person is also an accused in Delhi riots and another in Bulandshahr riots, she said.

Sibal said a 5000-page charge sheet has been filed and he has been served only 165 pages.

The court asked the UP government counsel to file its response.

Kappan's plea, filed through counsel Haris Beeran, contended that the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had earlier this month, on August 2, rejected the plea for bail, "denying him the vital right".

"The petitioner has spent almost two years behind bars, on the basis of trumped up charges, only because he sought to discharge his professional duty of reporting on the infamous case of the Hathras rape and murder," it added.

However, the court has granted the bail to the driver of the vehicle in which he was travelling. The petitioner claimed he was on way to Hathras to report the gang-rape and murder of the 19-year-old Dalit girl.

The plea also said the petitioner is a journalist by profession currently employed in the Azhimukham newspaper and is also a member of Press Club of India and Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ).