New Delhi [India]: The Supreme Court on Friday gave bond to Kerala reporter Siddique Kappan that was scheduled by the Uttar Pradesh government under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in 2020 while he was on his means to reach Hathras for covering the claimed gang-rape and also murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl.
The leading court has routed that Kappan will be produced before the trial court within 3 days and also he will after that be released on bond.
The court, in the hearing, observed that everyone has a Right To Free Expression, and also he was trying to show that the victim needed justice as well as increase an usual voice and asked the Uttar Pradesh federal government if this was a criminal activity in the eyes of the Law?
It told elderly advocate Mahesh Jethmalani that stood for the Uttar Pradesh federal government, that there were protests at India Gateway in 2011 for looking for justice in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case.
The court stated that occasionally protests are needed to bring a change, after the 2011 protest, there were changes in the regulations. These are demonstrations, it stated.
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh federal government has opposed the bond appeal submitted by Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan in the High Court.
Kappan was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh government under the Unlawful Activities Avoidance Act (UAPA), claiming he has close links with the extremist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI).
Kappan has “deep links” with horror funding/ planning organisations like PFI as well as its pupil wing, School Front of India (CFI). These organizations have actually allegedly been found to have links with Al Qaeda-linked organisations like IHH in Turkey, the Uttar Pradesh federal government has stated in its testimony.
It mentioned, “The investigation of the instance has exposed that the Petitioner has a deep nexus with the extremist PFI and its phases consisting of CFI, and its top management, particularly P Koya, ex-SIMI participant, PFI Exec member, and Editorial director of Thejas. P Koya, together with EM Abdul Rahman, has connections and also interactions with Al Qaeda linked company IHH in Turkey.”
The High Court has not taken into consideration the reality that Kappan is a well-known journalist with over 12 years of experience, which he is a member of both the Delhi press club as well as the Kerala Union of Working Reporters, claimed the appeal, adding that both outfits have issued certificates verifying Kappan’s qualifications as a journalist.
The Uttar Pradesh Cops detained Kappan and also three others on October 5, 2020, from the Mant location of Mathura. Cops had claimed that the charged were taking a trip to Hathras to disrupt peace and also harmony in the area.
The police had actually claimed it has arrested 4 people having links with the PFI in Mathura and also determined the detained persons as Siddique from Malappuram, Atiq-ur Rehman from Muzaffarnagar, Masood Ahmed from Bahraich, and also Alam from Rampur.
