Supreme Court Relaxes Bail Condition On Kerala Journalist Siddique Kappan

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the plea seeking relaxation of bail condition on Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan that required his presence at a police station in Uttar Pradesh every week

A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Sandeep Mehta relaxed the condition imposed by the top court while granting him bail in September 2022, in the case against Kappan under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

In October 2020, Kappan was arrested along with three others in Uttar Pradesh, while on his way to Hathras to report on the gangrape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl.

Kappan was accused of being a part of the larger conspiracy to create religious discord and spread terror in the country. he was booked under UAPA for travelling to Hathras with an alleged intention to disturb harmony in the area. He was further accused of going down to Hathras to collect funds to run a website full of misinformation to incite violence.

The UP police further alleged that that Kappan had close links with extremist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI).