Supreme Court Relaxes Bail Condition That Journalist Siddique Kappan Should Report At UP Police Station Every Week

The Supreme Court on Monday (November 4) relaxed the bail condition that Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan should record his presence at the police station in Uttar Pradesh every Monday in connection with the alleged Hathras conspiracy case.

A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Sandeep Mehta allowed an application filed by Kappan seeking relaxation of the bail condition.

"Order dated 9th September 2022 is modified and it shall not be necessary for the petitioner to report to the local police station. The other prayers made in the present application can be independently agitated," the bench recorded in the order.

The bail condition was imposed by the Supreme Court in September 2022 while granting him bail after nearly two years of incarceration. "The appellant shall record his presence in local police station every Monday. This condition shall apply for first 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, the appellant shall be at liberty to go to Kerala but shall report to the local police station in similar fashion, that is every Monday, and mark his presence in the register kept on that behalf," the order dated September 9, 2022 had recorded. Other conditions requiring him to deposit the Passport, to not leave Delhi without the permission of the trial court etc., were also imposed.

Kappan was arrested, along with other accused by the UP police in October 2020 while they were proceeding to report the Hathras rape-murder crime. While initially he was arrested under the apprehension of causing a breach of peace, subsequently, he was 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.

Case Details: SIDHIQUE KAPPAN v. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH MA 1929/2024 in MA 1929/2024 in Crl.A. No. 1534/2022