The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court granted bail to journalist Siddique Kappan today in a case filed against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Kappan’s lawyer Mohamed Dhanish confirmed the news to Newslaundry.
The PMLA case had been filed against Kappan and others by the Enforcement Directorate in February 2021. He had received bail in September for a case filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. However, he remained in jail due to the ED case, for which he was denied bail in October by a Lucknow sessions court.
Kappan had first been arrested in October 2020 while on his way to Hathras to report on the gangrape and subsequent death of a Dalit woman. He was booked under the UAPA and charged with sedition. The UP government believes he was part of a larger conspiracy to “foment religious discord and spread terror in the country”.
In the ED’s PMLA case, Kappan was accused of receiving money from the Popular Front of India to “incite riots”. In its chargesheet against Kappan, the UP police had cited a cash transfer in Kappan’s bank account as “proof”. Read Newslaundry’s report for more on this purported PFI “nexus”.
Kappan remained in jail for over 700 days before the Supreme Court granted him bail in the UAPA case on September 9. A former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University stood as surety for him, telling Newslaundry, “I wouldn't have been able to face myself if I didn’t extend this small help.”
Watch Newslaundry’s interview with her here.
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