LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court on Thursday rejected the bail plea of Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, who was arrested along with three others in October 2020 while on his way to Hathras after the alleged gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl. Kappan and his associates were booked under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The bail plea of the journalist was rejected by the single judge bench comprising Justice Krishan Pahal who had reserved the order after the arguments were concluded by accused and state counsels on August 2.
A Mathura court had rejected Kappan's bail plea after which he had approached the High Court.
Justice Pahal attributed the rejection of bail plea to a prima facie case being established by the prosecution. The judge said travelling with co-accused who did not belong to the media fraternity as well as tainted money being used by him and his accomplices were crucial circumstances going against him.
"The tainted money being used by the applicant and his colleagues cannot be ruled out," said the single-judge. The Court also rejected Kappan's claim that he was visiting Hathras to fulfil his journalistic duty by saying that it was nullified by the claims made by the prosecution in the charge sheet.
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The prosecution's allegations were that Kappan and the co-accused were travelling to Hathras with an intention to disturb harmony in the area. It was stated that they were collecting funds to run a website full of misinformation and to incite violence.
They were charged under Sections 17 and 18 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and Section 124A (sedition), Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion) and Section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Sections 65, 72 and 75 of the Information Technology Act.
However, Kappan's counsel denied all allegations, stating that he was going to Hathras to discharge his duty as a professional journalist, when he was illegally detained by the UP Police in violation of his fundamental rights.
Additionally, it was stated that Kappan never used any platform to spread disharmony or further class or communal conflict. On the contrary, the prosecution argued that Kappan, a resident of Kerala, had nothing to do with Hathras incident and was there with mala fide intent. It was also submitted by the prosecution that Kappan had conducted a secret workshop with an aim to incite riots across the country by raking up issues of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the Babri Masjid demolition.
While rejecting the bail plea, the Court said that owing to the nature of the offence, the evidence on record, and considering the complicity of the accused and the severity of the punishment, the Court found Kappan's bail application to be devoid of merit, and dismissed it.