Lawyers Can Meet Alleged PFI Members In Jail: UP Govt To High Court

Additional Advocate General, Manish Goyal, told the division bench comprising Justice Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Justice Shamim Ahmed that the counsels may meet the petitioners in accordance with jail rules.

(File Photo/ Getty)

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Government has informed the Allahabad High Court that lawyers of the three alleged Popular Front of India (PFI) members, arrested along with journalist Siddique Kappan on their way to Hathras, are permitted to meet them in jail.

Additional Advocate General, Manish Goyal, told the division bench comprising Justice Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Justice Shamim Ahmed that the counsels may meet the petitioners in accordance with jail rules. The development comes after petitioners' counsels alleged that Superintendent of Jail, Mathura, is not permitting them to meet their clients.

The Bench was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Atik Ur Rehman, a student; Alam, a cab driver and Masud, an activist. The three were intercepted by the Mathura police on October 5, 2020, while they were going to Hathras and were later remanded to judicial custody.

They were accused of conspiring to cause riots and caste-based unrest in Hathras and were booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).

Earlier, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists had also alleged that Kappan, who was also arrested in Mathura on the same day on similar grounds, is being prevented from meeting any lawyer and signing a letter of authority for his counsel.