SC relaxes Siddique Kappan’s bail condition

The Supreme Court has relaxed Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan’s bail condition which made it mandatory for him to record his presence at a police station in Uttar Pradesh every Monday in connection with the alleged Hathras conspiracy case, LiveLaw reported.

“Order dated September 9 2022 is modified and it shall not be necessary for the petitioner to report to the local police station. The other prayers made in the present application can be independently agitated,” said a bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Sandeep Mehta while allowing the journalist’s application, according to LiveLaw.

The bail condition had been imposed by the Supreme Court in September 2022 while granting him bail after nearly two years in prison.

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.

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 an interview with Manisha Pande. Watch here.

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