A court in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow district has framed charges against Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, and six others, in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case under Sections 3 (offence of money laundering) and 4 (punishment for money laundering) of the Act.Speaking to Live Law, lawyer Kuldeep Srivastava, who represented ED in the Court, confirmed that Charges have been...
A court in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow district has framed charges against Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, and six others, in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case under Sections 3 (offence of money laundering) and 4 (punishment for money laundering) of the Act.
Speaking to Live Law, lawyer Kuldeep Srivastava, who represented ED in the Court, confirmed that Charges have been framed against 7 accused persons including Kappan in the PMLA Case by the court on December 6.
In October 2022, the Lucknow sessions court rejected the bail plea filed by Kappan in connection with this case initiated against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Lucknow Court FRAMES CHARGES against Kerala Journalist Siddique Kappan in a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case.The court has fixed December 17 as the next date of the hearing in the case.#SiddiqueKappan#PMLA pic.twitter.com/AKegFdgTrI— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) December 8, 2022
ED filed the prosecution complaint against Kappan in February 2021. The other accused in this case are K. A. Rauf Sherif, Atikur Rahman, Masud Ahmad, Mohammad Alam, Abdul Razzak, and Ashraf Khadir.
It may be noted that the Supreme Court, on September 9, granted bail to Kappan, who has been under the custody of UP Police since October 6, 2020, in connection with the Hathras Conspiracy case. However, due to the rejection of his bail in the PMLA case, Kappan continues to be behind the bar
Read more about the Supreme Court's order here: Siddique Kappan Case- "Everyone Has Right To Free Expression", Supreme Court Asks UP Govt How Seeking "Justice For Hathras Girl" Is A Crime
Kappan had earlier moved the Allahabad High Court after a local court in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh had rejected his bail plea last year in July. While denying bail to Kappan in August this year, the Allahabad High Court had stated that he had "no work" at Hathras.
On August 23, Kappan's co-accused cab driver Mohammad Alam, was enlarged on bail by the High Court. It was observed in the bail order that "incriminating material" was recovered from Kappan's possession but, no such material was recovered from Alam.