Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan who was arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), among other cases, is likely to be released on Thursday after a special court in Lucknow signed his release order more than five weeks after he got bail in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). “All the formalities were completed today. He is likely to come out of prison tomorrow,” Mohamed Dhanish K.S., Kappan’s lawyer, told The Hindu.
Mr. Kappan will walk free after more than 27 months since his arrest in October 2020 while he was on his way to Hathras, where a Dalit woman had died after allegedly being raped. Mr. Kappan was booked under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, the UAPA and the Information Technology Act apart from the PMLA by the law enforcement agencies.
The Supreme Court on September 9 granted bail to Mr. Kappann in the UAPA case, stating that “every citizen has the right to free expression” while the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court granted him bail on December 23 in the PMLA case. Mr. Kappan who originally hails from Kerala worked as a reporter for Malayalam news website Azhimukham and also held the post of secretary in Delhi Unit of Kerala Union of Working Journalists.
Earlier on December 23, 2022, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court granted bail to Kappan.
The jailed journalist had moved the High Court after being denied bail by a Lucknow sessions court on October 31, 2022, in the PMLA case which led the journalist to remain in prison despite being granted bail by the Supreme Court (SC) in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case in September 2022.
Published - February 01, 2023 05:15 pm IST
