A local court in Mathura in the state of Uttar Pradesh has rejected the bail plea of Siddique Kappan, a journalist from Kerala who has been languishing in jail under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Judge, Anil Kumar Pandey rejected the bail plea moved by Kappan on the ground that there was a prima facie case that Kappan and other co-accused were trying to disturb the law and other situations when they were heading to cover the Hathras gang-rape incident in Uttar Pradesh, Bar and Bench reported.
The bailable charges registered against Kappan and others co-accused, in the case filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police were recently dropped by a court in Mathura. Kappan had approached a Mathura court for bail, contending that there was no evidence to back up the case against him.
Earlier in February, he was allowed to visit his ailing mother for merely five days in his hometown in Kerala under the strict vigil of UP Police. His mother passed away last month in June.
Kappan who happens to be diabetic and has other co-morbidities had to move to the Supreme Court earlier in April to get proper medical treatment after he tested positive for COVID19. Kappan has been in jail since October last year when he along with two others was taken into custody by the UP Police when he was en route to cover the Hathras gang rape.
Initially, they were arrested under the apprehension of causing a breach of peace and were produced before a court of the sub-divisional magistrate which sent them to judicial custody. Later on, they were booked under the UAPA alleging that he and his co-passengers were trying to incite communal riots and disrupt social harmony in the wake of the Hathras gangrape-murder case and have remained in judicial custody since then.
Also read: Journalist Siddique Kappan’s Wife Sends a Contempt Notice to the UP Government
