NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday relaxed the bail condition allowed to Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan in a UAPA case registered against him.
A Bench headed by Justice PS Narasimha modified the top court’s September 2022 order which had required him to report to the local police station.
“It shall not be necessary for the petitioner to report to the local police station,” the court allowed.
The top court had on September 17 asked the state government to file its reply on the plea of Kappan, who was arrested in October 2020 while on his way to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh following the death of a Dalit woman who was allegedly gang-raped.
The apex court granted him bail on September 9, 2022, after two years of jail custody, while observing that every person has the right to free expression.
The Supreme Court had laid down several conditions while granting him bail, including that he would have to remain in Delhi for the next six weeks after release from prison and report to the Nizamuddin police station here on Monday every week.
The court had said that after six months, he could travel to his native place in Malappuram in Kerala and he would have to report to the local police station there on every Monday.
"Kappan shall not leave the jurisdiction of Delhi without the consent of the trial court, and he in person or through a lawyer should attend the trial court on every single day.The appellant shall deposit his passport with the investigative machinery," the court ordered.
Uttar Pradesh police have filed an FIR under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against four people, including Kappan, for having alleged links with the Popular Front of India (PFI).
The police had earlier claimed the accused were trying to disturb law and order in Hathras.
