Siddique Kappan, a journalist from Kerala who was detained in October 2020 in connection with the Hathras conspiracy case, was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Friday, news agency PTI reported.
After appearing in front of the trial court in three days, the journalist will be discharged. The Supreme Court ordered Kappan to stay in Delhi for the next six weeks and to report to the local police station in Nizamuddin every week. Other restrictions have also been enforced.
After six weeks, the journalist will be permitted to go to Mallapuram in Kerala, where he would be required to report to the local police station once a week. He must surrender his passport before being released and has been ordered not to abuse his freedom by contacting the witnesses, according to the court.
The UP government had previously told the Supreme Court that Kappan had extensive ties with the PFI and was part of a bigger scheme to "incite religious division and propagate terror."
The Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench had already denied his bail application.
Mohammad Basheer, a Muslim League MP, praised the Supreme Court decision while noting that many similar undertrials are still incarcerated.
He also praised the Kerala Working Journalists' Union for pursuing the case aggressively.
Hathras Gangrape Case
Notably, Kappan was detained in October 2020 as he travelled to Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, the scene of a Dalit woman's suspected gang-rape death.
On September 14, 2020, the sexual assault victim died in a Delhi hospital a fortnight after being raped by four guys from her village in Hathras. In her community, she was cremated in the middle of the night.
Her family members stated that the cremation occurred without their permission and that they were not permitted to bring the body home one final time.
(With Agencies Inputs)