New Delhi, The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred to November 2 the hearing on a plea of Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan seeking the release of his passport, which was deposited as part of bail conditions in the Hathras conspiracy case.
He was booked under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Act for alleged conspiracy to incite riots following the gangrape-murder of the girl. The appellant shall deposit his passport with the investigative machinery. Kappan was arrested from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh on October 6, 2020, while he was on his way to report on the gangrape-murder of a Dalit girl there. On September 9, 2022, the top court granted him bail, allowing his appeal against an order of the Allahabad High Court.
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe adjourned the hearing after Uttar Pradesh’s standing counsel Ruchira Goel said she was served the application in the morning and needed to seek instructions on it. It had said that after a period of six months, he could travel to his native place, Malappuram in Kerala, and there, too, he would have to report to the local police station every Monday. “The appellant shall not leave the jurisdiction of Delhi without the express consent of the trial court,” it had said, adding, “The appellant shall either in person or through lawyer shall attend the trial court on every single day.
Police had earlier claimed that the accused were trying to disturb law and order in Hathras. The top court had laid down several conditions for the bail, including that Kappan would have to remain in Delhi for the next six months after release from prison and report to the Nizamuddin police station here on Monday every week.
