SC grants bail to journalist Siddique Kappan

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed bail to Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, who has been in custody for nearly two years and is accused of offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, saying “every person has a right to free expression.” A Bench led by Chief Justice U.U. Lalit orally observed that the “literature” found in the car Mr. Kappan was travelling in to Hathras, where a Dalit girl was allegedly gangraped, at the time of his arrest on October 5, 2020 only propagated ideas like “the victim requires justice” and “let us be a common voice”. Chief Justice Lalit asked, “Will that be a crime in the eyes of the law?” Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, on the Bench along with Justice P.S. Narasimha, recalled how protests at India Gate in 2012 led to changes in the rape law. “Sometimes protests are necessary to highlight deficiencies… Till now, you [Uttar Pradesh] have not shown anything provocative,” Justice Bhat said. The State, represented by senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, maintained Mr. Kappan was “agent provocateur” for the “terror gang” Popular Front of India. He was financed and sent to incite riots in Hathras. The court asked Mr. Jethmalani whether the literature on ‘Justice for Hathras’ contained anything to suggest that Mr. Kappan was en route to Hathras to incite riots. It enquired if explosives were found in the vehicle. The State replied in the negative. “So, at best what you can say is this man was travelling in a vehicle with three others when you apprehended him on the Yamuna Expressway and inside the car there was some literature…” the Chief Justice summarised. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Haris Beeran, for Mr. Kappan, said “this is not prosecution but persecution”. The court said material shown by Uttar Pradesh as a “toolkit” to “incite riots” related to a “foreign country.” Mr. Sibal said they were associated with happenings in the United States. “The man has undergone custody for almost two years. Is there any immediate prospect of the investigation seeing a sort of culmination?” the CJI asked the State. It noted that charges were still not framed though the chargesheet was filed in April 2021. Mr. Jethmalani said delay was due to someone turning approver and it would be completed in two months. “Mr. Jethmalani, we will grant him bail,” Chief Justice Lalit said. The court’s order refrained from commenting on the progress of the investigation or the prosecution material against Mr. Kappan. It directed him to be produced before the trial court in three days to be released on bail. Last November, Siddique Kappan’s wife, Raihanth, had written to the then Chief Justice N.V. Ramana seeking his release, pointing out that a habeas corpus petition had been pending for over six months. At a time when dissenting activists and journalists face arrest for reporting and for expressing their views, the Supreme Court order holding up the “right to free expression” makes this a top story of the day. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. Click here