Supreme Court Records State Of UP's No Objection To Siddique Kappan Meeting Lawyer In Jail; Hearing Deferred To Next Week

The Supreme Court on Friday recorded the statement of the Solicitor General, who appeared for the State of Uttar Pradesh, that there was no objection to Kerala journalist Siddiqque Kappan meeting a lawyer while in jail to sign a vakalatnama.

"There was no objection and there is no objection," said the Law officer. 

SG Tushar Mehta denied the allegations of the petitioner that Kappan was denied access to a lawyer.

The top court was hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by the Kerala Union of Working Journalist(KUWJ) against the custody of Kappan, who was arrested by the UP Police on October 5 while he was proceeding to report the Hathras crime.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal submitted before a bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde, Justices AS Bopanna & V Ramasubramaniun that the accused was not being allowed to meet a lawyer.

"We did go to the Magistrate and said please allow us to meet the accused so we can amend the petition. The magistrate told us to go to jail authorities who then sent us back to the magistrate," said Sibal.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who appeared for the State of Uttar Pradesh informed the court that the accused along with two others and their bail was heard for nine days. "They should approach the High Court," said the law officer.

CJI SA Bobde asked Sibal to have a look at the reply and listed the case next week.

Sibal submitted that Kappan has not moved any other court and that the lower court was considering the bail applications of the co-accused.

During the brief hearing on Friday, CJI SA Bobde also remarked that he was unhappy with the inaccurate reporting that the Court had refused relief in the case.

"We are trying to discourage Article 32 petitions", said Chief Justice of India SA Bobde on the last date, while adjourning to Friday, 20th of November, the habeas corpus plea filed for release of Kerala journalist, Siddique Kappan, who was arrested by the UP Police while he was proceeding to cover the Hathras case of alleged rape & murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman.

Kappan, a freelance journalist reporting for Malayalam portals, was arrested by the UP police on October 5 along with three others in an FIR registered for alleged criminal conspiracy to create societal unrest in the wake of Hathras incident. The stringent provisions of anti-terror legislation Unlawful Activities Prevention Act(UAPA) and sedition were invoked against Kappan and others. A local court in Mathura remanded them to custody.

Following his arrest, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists(KUWJ) filed a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court challenging Kappan's custody. The KUWJ argued that the arrest was illegal and unconstitutional.

On October 12, a bench lead by the Chief Justice of India expressed disinclination to entertain the petition and suggested to Sibal(who was appearing for KUWJ) that the petitioner should approach the High Court.

The bench then proceeded to list the matter after four weeks refusing to issue notice on the habeas plea to the State of Uttar Pradesh.

Last week, the KUWJ filed an interim application in the habeas petition seeking permission for regular VC meetings of Kappan with his family members and lawyers after the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mathura, refused such permission.