The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday has granted bail to Mohammad Alam, a cab driver and a co-accused along with journalist Siddique Kappan in the Hathras Conspiracy case, who was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the Uttar Pradesh Police when the two were on their way to Hathras in 2020 to report the matter of rape and murder of the Dalit girl. Mr. Kappan was denied bail by the court earlier this month. Alam, who took Kappan to the spot, got bail after 22 months of his arrest.
Mr. Alam was granted bail by the Lucknow Bench of the High Court of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Saroj Yadav. He was lodged in the Mathura jail since October 5, 2020, and was booked under Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 295-A (deliberate intentions of outraging the religious feeling), 124A (sedition), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC); Sections 65 and 72 of Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, and Sections of 17 and 18 of UAPA.
Amarjeet Singh Rakhra, the lawyer of Mr. Alam, told the court that he was only taking Mr. Kappan to the spot and there is no other relation of him with the matter. The government counsel, however, claimed that Mr. Alam was associated with the Popular Front of India (PFI) and had bought his vehicle with the money of terror funding. The government lawyers also told the court about Mr. Alam’s connection with one named Danish who is an accused in the Delhi riots.
