The Lucknow High Court, on Friday, December 23, granted bail to journalist Siddique Kappan in the case filed against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). In September this year, Siddique Kappan — a journalist from Kerala who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh (UP) police when he was on his way to cover the Hathras rape case — was granted bail by the Supreme Court in a case booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Though Siddique has now got bail in both cases registered against him, it is unclear whether he can walk out of jail immediately. This is because he was asked to furnish two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of the same amount, when he was granted bail in the UAPA case. Though two personal sureties were submitted, the jail authorities in Uttar Pradesh are yet to process the sureties. Mohammed Alam, who was the driver of the car that Siddique and others travelled in when he was arrested, got bail in August from the Allahabad High Court on the basis that no incriminating material was recovered from his possession, but he too still remains in jail.
"The verification of the surety in the UAPA has been completed by the police, but it has not been submitted at the court in an attempt to delay his. In the PMLA case too verification of surety needs to be completed if he has to walk out. I have been expecting in every hearing that he will get bail, that hope was there in the last three years and two months," Siddique's wife Raihanath told TNM. She returned from UP three days ago after meeting the lawyer.
Siddique Kappan was arrested in October 2020 when he was on his way to Hathras to cover the rape and murder of a Dalit woman. He was accused of ‘reporting on communal riots’ and having links with the now banned Popular Front of India (PFI). The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force investigating the case filed a 5,000 page chargesheet in the case claiming that he “only reported about Muslims”, and charged him under Sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity), and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), in addition to the draconian UAPA, PMLA and the Information Technology Act.
The Supreme Court granted him bail saying that the UP government was not able to prove that there was ‘anything provocative in the documents’ that were found in the car in which Siddique was traveling to Hathras. The court also observed that every person has the right to free expression. “He is trying to show that the victim needs justice and raise a common voice. Is that a crime in the eyes of the law?” the then Chief Justice UU Lalit said.
Siddique was booked by the ED under PMLA alleging that he and four others were travelling to Hathras to receive some funds before their trip. It is in this case that he has received bail now.
Watch: Raihanath Kappan: 'Police didn't even hand him medicines' l Siddique Kappan