Lucknow court denies Siddique Kappan bail; no release soon

Lucknow: The Lucknow district court rejected Malayali journalist Siddique Kappan's bail plea on Monday. Kappan had applied for bail in a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). But Alam, Kappan's co-accused, has been granted bail by the court. The Supreme Court had earlier granted bail to Kapan in a UAPA case.

The ED case was deferred four times before it was called for a hearing. The ED registered the case against him and four others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in February 2021, news portal Maktoob reported.

Siddique Kappan, who is in Uttar Pradesh jail, can be released from jail only if he gets bail in the ED case as well. He was arrested on October 5, 2020, while going to Hathras, where a Dalit girl was gang-raped. Then Kapan and some campus front leaders were arrested under UAPA and imprisoned. Kapan spent two years in jail before a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India U U Lalit granted conditional bail last month but could not be released due to the ED case. The driver of the vehicle in which Kappan, who was granted bail in the same case, also has an ED case, so he also could not be released from prison.

The UAPA case was on the allegation by the Uttar Pradesh government that Kappan and others created a larger conspiracy to "foment religious discord and spread terror in the country," Maktoob quoted.