Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, who was arrested in October 2020 while on his way to report the gang rape and death case of a young Dalit woman in Hathras, has approached the Supreme Court seeking bail in the case.
Earlier this month, the Allahabad High Court rejected the bail application of Kappan, who was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the alleged Hathras conspiracy case.
The plea was mentioned on Wednesday for urgent listing before a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana, and Justices Hima Kohli and C T Ravikumar, which agreed to list it on August 26.
Kappan’s counsel, Advocate Haris Beeran mentioned the matter before the bench saying the high court has denied bail to the journalist.
“Presently, 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/ murder,” the plea said.
“Therefore, the present petition raises seminal questions pertaining to the right to liberty, as well as the freedom of expression and speech vested in independent media under the aegis of the Constitution,” it said.
In his plea, Kappan claimed that the high court has failed to take note of the fact that the FIR or the charge sheet, “ex-facie” does not make out a case for the invocation of sections 17 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
UAPA section 17 deals with punishment for raising funds for a terrorist act, and section 18 pertains to punishment for conspiracy, etc.
Kappan was arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police along with three others in October 2020 while he was on his way to Hathras, home to the 19-year-old Dalit girl who had died after being allegedly gang-raped.
The FIR has been filed against the accused under various provisions of Sections 17 and 18 of the UAPA and IPC Section 124A (sedition), Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion) and Section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and Sections 65, 72 and 75 of the Information Technology Act.
The UP police had earlier claimed that the accused were trying to disturb the law and order in Hathras.
Dismissing his bail plea, the high court had said “Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, nature of the offence, evidence on record, considering the complicity of the accused, the severity of punishment and the settled law propounded by the apex court, at this stage, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, this court is not inclined to release the applicant on bail.”
Earlier, a Mathura court had also rejected Kappan’s bail plea after which he had approached the high court.
Mohammed Alam, one of the accused in the case and the driver of the can in which the accused were travelling was granted bail by the high court on Tuesday.
