Hathras Conspiracy Case: Supreme Court Grants Bail To Journalist Siddique Kappan

Siddique Kappan was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh government in October 2020 on his way to Hathras where a Dalit woman had died after allegedly being gang-raped.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan who was booked by UP government under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The top court directed that Kappan shall be produced before the trial court within three days and he shall be released on bail. Siddique Kappan was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh government in October 2020 on his way to Hathras where a Dalit woman had died after allegedly being gang-raped. The matter was heard by the bench comprising Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat.

WHAT DID SUPREME COURT SAY ON SIDDIQUE KAPPAN BAIL

1. The appellant shall be taken to the trial court within 3 days and shall be released on bail on conditions as deemed fit.
2. It shall be the condition of bail that the appellant shall stay within the jurisdiction of Jangpura in Delhi.
3. The appellant shall not leave the jurisdiction of Delhi without the express permission of trial court.
4. The appellant shall record his presence in local police station every Monday. This condition shall apply for first 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, the appellant shall be at liberty to go to Kerala but shall report to the local police station in similar fashion, that is every Monday, and mark his presence in the register kept on that behalf.
5. The appellant shall either in person or through lawyer shall attend the trial court on every single day
6. The appellant shall deposit his passport with the investigative machinery. The appellant shall not misue the liberty and shall not get in touch with any of the person connected with the controversy.

ALLEGATIONS AGAINST SIDDIQUE KAPPAN

The bench led by CJI Lalit enquired what exactly had been found against Kappan. Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, who was appearing for the State of Uttar Pradesh listed out the material found against Kappan.

He said that–”Kappan was in meeting of PFI in Sep 2020. It was said in the meeting that funding had stopped. It was decided in the meeting that they will go to sensitive areas and incite riots. On October 5, they had decided to go to Hathras to incite riots. He was funded with Rs 45,000 to create riots. He claimed to be accredited to a newspaper. But we have found that he was accredited to the official organization of PFI. PFI has to be notified as a terrorist group. One State, Jharkhand, has notified it is a terrorist group. He was there to incite riots. It’s a little bit like what happened in Bombay in 1990.”

THE HATHRAS CONSPIRACY CASE

Kappan, who has now spent almost two years behind bars, was arrested, along with other accused by the UP police in October 2020 while they were proceeding to report the Hathras rape-murder crime.

While initially he was arrested under the apprehension of causing a breach of peace, subsequently, he was booked under the UAPA alleging that him and his co-passengers were trying to incite communal riots and disrupt social harmony in the wake of the Hathras gangrape-murder case.

Kappan had moved the Allahabad High Court after a local court in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh had rejected his bail plea last year in July. While denying bail to Kappan, the Allahabad High Court had stated that he had “no work” at Hathras.

On August 23, Kappan’s co-accused cab driver Mohammad Alam, was enlarged on bail by the High Court. It was observed in the bail order that “incriminating material” was recovered from Kappan’s possession but, no such material was recovered from Alam.

In the Special Leave Petition filed through Advocate Pallavi Pratap, Kappan had submitted that the intention of his visit was to discharge his professional duty of reporting on the infamous case of the Hathras rape/murder. However, he was taken into custody on the basis of “trumped up” charges.