SC grants 5 days interim bail for journalist Siddique Kappan to visit ailing mother

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed five days interim bail for jailed Journalist Siddique Kappan to visit his ailing mother in an interim bail application filed by Kerala Union of Working Journalists(KUWJ)

"Mother is said to be in a critical situation and that she is likely not to survive for many days. In these circumstances, we consider it appropriate to permit the detenu to visit his mother and return to prison at the end of the 5th day," the bench led by CJI SA Bobde ordered.

The CJI further recorded that Solicitor General expressed a grave apprehension that detenu is likely to use this opportunity to get himself paraded in public and gather support for his activities, which are otherwise against the law.

The CJI however made it clear that the Court will impose adequate bail conditions to make sure that no such thing happens.

"We are not going to allow him to be paraded and he does not go anywhere except his house and no interviews," it said.

The bail conditions include Kappan shall not meet members of the public except his relatives and doctors and anybody else in connection with his mother's health and shall be escorted by a team of officers of UP Police. The court also ordered police in Kerala shall cooperate with the UP Police.

The court further ordered that Kappan's travel to and from his mother's house shall be the responsibility of UP police.

Kappan was arrested by UP police on October 5, while on the way to Hathras to meet the family of the victim of the gang rape there. He was subsequently put in jail with charges of sedition and under UAPA. Two others with him, who were workers of Campus Front India and the driver were also arrested. Kappan was allowed to meet his counsel after 49 days.

During the hearing, the Court also referred to the case of Bangalore blast accused and People's Democratic Party Chairman Abdul Nazar Maudany, who was also permitted to meet his ailing mother in Kerala in 2016.