“Mr. Kappan will remain in jail as a case being investigated by the Law Enforcement Branch is still ongoing,” Jail PRO DG Santosh Verma said.
“Mr. Kappan will remain in jail as a case being investigated by the Law Enforcement Branch is still ongoing,” Jail PRO DG Santosh Verma said.
Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan, who was recently released on bail by the Supreme Court, will remain in jail as a case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate against him is still pending, officials said of the corrections department.
A court on Monday issued the order for the release of Mr Kappan, who was jailed after he was arrested in October 2020 on his way to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, where a Dalit woman had died after being allegedly raped .
“Mr. Kappan will remain in jail as a case being investigated by the Law Enforcement Branch is still ongoing,” Jail PRO DG Santosh Verma said. PTI.
While ordering his release, Supplementary Sessions Judge (SJD) Anurodh Mishra had ordered Mr. Kappan to provide two sureties of ₹1 lakh each and a personal surety in the same amount.
The judge also asked the journalist to pledge not to violate the conditions imposed on him by the Supreme Court.
Read also | Relief, finally: on bail from journalist Siddique Kappan
Mr Kappan along with three others – Athikur Rehman, Alam and Masood – were arrested by Mathura police for allegedly having links with the Indian Popular Front and participating in a plot to incite violence.
He was convicted under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC), Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Information Technology (IT) Act.
The Supreme Court granted Kappan bail on Friday.
The court had also taken note of the Uttar Pradesh government’s submissions and laid down several bail conditions, including that he should stay in Delhi for the next six weeks after his release from prison and report to the post of Nizamuddin police in the national capital on Monday of every week.
Opposition parties and journalists’ organizations hailed the Supreme Court’s order granting Kappan bail.
They claimed Mr Kappan had been made an ‘easy target’ by the Uttar Pradesh government and hoped he would also be released on bail in another case brought against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act silver.
The Dalit woman had died in a Delhi hospital a fortnight after being gang-raped on September 14, 2020. She was cremated in the middle of the night in her village.
