Journalist Siddique Kappan gets 5-day interim bail to see his mother, UP police will monitor

The Supreme Court has granted interim bail of 5 days to Siddique Kappan, a journalist arrested by the UP Police in the Hathras gangrape case. Siddique Kappan has been given this relief to go to Kerala to know the health of the ailing mother. The Supreme Court has given relief to the journalist to go to Kerala with some conditions. During 5 days of bail, the UP Police personnel will be with them to monitor them. Kappan had sought bail to know his condition, citing the condition of his elderly mother. Kappan's lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for him in the government, said that the health of the journalist's mother is very bad and the doctors say that he might not live long.

Hearing the petition, a bench of Supreme Court Chief Justice SA Bobde granted bail to Kappan for going to Kerala. However, the bench also said that on the 5th day they would have to come back to UP. The Supreme Court has also imposed certain conditions on Kappan. The apex court said while granting bail to Kappan, he said that during these 5 days, he will not give interviews to any media institution. Apart from this, we will not do this on social media. There will also be no permission to meet people other than their relatives. He will be able to meet the doctors involved in the treatment of the mother.

These terms given by the Supreme Court have been accepted by his lawyer Kapil Sibal. Kapil Sibal had said in favor of Kappan in the court that his mother's health was very bad. She cannot even speak on video conferencing anymore. The jail in which he is lodged tried to get a video call from the authority, but his mother could not speak. However, in favor of the UP government in court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed Bell's demand. He said that the judicial process is being disrupted by talking about the health of the mother.

In October last year, UP Police arrested Siddique Kappan while going for reporting of Hathras gangrape case. Siddique was arrested on charges of ties to extremist organization PFI. Police allege that peace-breaking literature has been recovered from them. Not only this, the UP police said that Kappan has no connection with journalism at present and the validity of his ID card has expired long ago.