SC seeks UP govt’s reply on journalist Siddique Kappan’s plea to ease bail conditions

The Supreme Court has sought the Uttar Pradesh government’s response to a petition filed by Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan seeking relaxation of a bail condition in a UAPA case that requires him to report to the state’s Hathras police station every Monday, Livelaw reported. 

Kappan was arrested in October 2020, on his way to Hathras, where a Dalit woman was gang-raped, murdered, and subsequently cremated by the police without the consent of her family. He was granted conditional bail by the Supreme Court after nearly two years of incarceration.

The bench of Justices PS Narasimhan and R Mahadevan today asked the state government to file its reply on Kappan’s plea. The top court will hear the matter after two weeks.

The UP police had initially accused Kappan of attempting to disturb the law and order in Hathras. He was eventually booked for having links with the Popular Front of India, an outfit banned under the UAPA for allegedly funding protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The FIR in the matter named four people, including Kappan.

In September 2022, the Supreme Court overruled the Allahabad court’s decision and granted bail to Kappan, observing that every person has the right to free expression.

The conditions for bail included that the Kappan would have to remain in Delhi for six weeks, deposit his passport with the probe agency, and report to the local police station every Monday.  

Kappan spoke at length about the UAPA case, dissent, and his jail term in this interview with Manisha Pande. Watch here.