KUWJ Moves Supreme Court For Direction To Permit Lawyers And Family To Interact With Journalist Sidhique Kappan Arrested By UP Police

The journalist was arrested by the UP Police last month while he was proceeding to cover the Hathras incident of rape and murder of a 19-year old Dalit woman.

A habeas corpus plea seeking his relief is pending beforethe Supreme Court and on the previous hearing, the Court had asked the Union to amend the petition to incorporate subsequent developments in the case.

Therefore, the lawyers had gone to Mathura, where Kappan is presently lodged, for the purpose of gathering more information on the case, however, it is alleged that CJM Mathura, without any justifiable grounds", denied permission for the same.

"There are no justifiable grounds to reject the application of the counsel for the petitioner to meet the accused, and the said order violates fundamental rights of the Detenue and is against the spirit of rule of law," the plea states.

It is further submitted that the journalist was prevented from signing a vakalatnama for authorising his counsel and when the said lawyer attempted to meet him in the Court, during his production before the CJM, the Presiding Officer denied permission.

In view of these facts, the Union has submitted that it is unable to amend the writ petition, or take necessary steps for the relief including filing petition for quashing of FIR on the ground that the ingredients of the offence are not made out.

Fearing threat to the journalist's life, the Union has submitted,

"The present case has witnessed a complete denial of the fundamental rights of the Detenue, from the act of rejecting the oral request of the lawyer of the Petitioner for meeting the client and to get the vakalatnama signed…Over and above these violations, the horrific conditions of the prisoners in the New Temporary jail of Mathura even without basic Security measures against the COVID-19 virus, amounts to a serious denial of their fundamental rights and the express directions of this Hon'ble Court."

It is pointed out that the journalist is a diabetic, and requires proper diet and medicines. Further, his family resides in Kerala and shall not be able to visit him physically due to the pandemic. Therefore, it is urged that he be allowed to contact them via video conferencing, on a regular basis.

It is also averred that the possibilities of an effective amendment of the present writ petition is also diminished in the light of the rejection of the application for meeting the detenue in the jail, and presently the Petitioner is helpless with no alternative remedies under the procedure established by law.

In its plea, the Union has contended that Kappan's arrest was made in violation of the mandatory guidelines laid down in the decision D K Basu vs State of West Bengal, and was made with the sole intention of obstructing the discharge of duty by a journalist.

It is alleged that he was arrested under the powers of preventive detention under Section 151, 107 and 116 of CrPC. However, no notice or order was served requiring him to execute a bond as envisaged under Section 107 CrPC.

The reliefs sought by the Petitioner are as follows:

• Direct the jail authorities to permit three office bearers of the Petitioner organisation and their Lawyers to conduct regular interviews with Detenue over video conferencing.
• Direct the jail authorities to permit the family members of the Detenue to conduct regular interviews with the Detenue over video conferencing.
• Direct the jail authorities to permit the Detenue to sign a vakalatnama authorising his legal representatives to act on his behalf in his legal defence and in other connected legal proceedings and have the same forwarded to the duly authorised counsel of the Detenue
• Pass an order directing the District Judge Mathura or a High Court Judge for the immediate visit of the New Mathura Jail located near Ratanlal Phoolkatori Devi School, Mathura, to enquire on Human Rights Violations in the Jail and in the courts of Mathura as elaborately stated in the affidavit of the advocate for the petitioner and to submit report before this Hon'ble court, and to take immediate corrective steps .

The application is filed through Advocate Pal Singh.

Also Read: "Approach Allahabad HC": SC Tells Kapil Sibal On Plea Seeking Release Of Journalist Siddique Kappan

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