The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to shift journalist Siddique Kappan, to a government hospital in Delhi for receiving medical treatment. Kappan, who suffers from diabetes and heart ailments, contracted Covid-19 in Mathura jail and is being treated at Mathura Medical College Hospital, where he is allegedly kept in inhumane conditions.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, said Kappan would be sent back to Mathura jail after he recovers from the disease.
The court was hearing an application filed by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), which said Kappan had collapsed in a bathroom at Mathura jail, and later tested positive for COVID-19. KUWJ sought the court’s direction to shift Kappan to AIIMS.
The UP government, however, vehemently opposed Kappan’s transfer to a hospital in Delhi, arguing he can receive treatment at the Mathura jail’s hospital.
Kappan’s wife had written to the Chief Justice of India raising concerns about his condition in the hospital. She claimed Kappan was “chained like an animal to a cot of the Medical College Hospital, Mathura, without mobility, and he could neither take food nor go to the toilet for the last more than four days, and is very critical”.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayai Vijayan had also written to his UP counterpart Yogi Adityanath requesting him to intervene and ensure Kappan be provided expert health care.
Kappan is a freelance journalist who has been extensively covering politics, crime, and current affairs for several Kerala based news outlets including Azhimukham, Thejas Daily and Thalsamayam Midday Daily. He is also the secretary of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists.
Kappan is lodged in Mathura Jail in Uttar Pradesh under the draconian UAPA, after he was arrested in Hathras, in October last year while he was traveling from Delhi to cover the story of the brutal gang-rape and murder of a Dalit woman by upper-caste Hindu men.
Two weeks ago, the Uttar Pradesh Police filed a 5,000-page charge sheet against Kappan, and other Muslim youths who were arrested along with him.
Along with UAPA, they are slapped with IT Act and other serious charges for alleged conspiracy for inciting communal clashes.
Many international media unions, opposition leaders, and human rights organizations have been constantly raising concerns against the arrest of Kappan and have demanded his immediate release.
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