Since it was the last working day for the Allahabad High Court this year, jailed Muslim journalist Siddique Kappan who was granted bail by HC in PMLA case on Friday will be in custody until at least January 2, 2023.
The court will reopen only on 2 January, 2023.
On 9 September, the Supreme Court granted Kappan bail in the draconian UAPA case, saying that “every citizen has the right to free expression”. However, he remained in jail in Lucknow in the PMLA case, which was slapped against him by the Enforcement Directorate in 2021.
Kappan’s counsel who told media that the Lucknow bench of the High Court granted him bail without any conditions, said that the court has asked for two sureties for Kappan to be eligible for bail.
As the courts have granted him bail in both cases, he is most likely to walk out of prison after more than 26 months.
Maktoob last month reported that the authorities have still not completed the mandatory verification of the surety, mentioned by the court, in the UAPA bail order to Siddique Kappan.
The “endless delay” in verifying the given sureties was unjustifiable, Raihanath Kappan, Siddique Kappan’s wife earlier said.
Kappan remained in jail for over 700 days before the Supreme Court granted him bail on September 9.
Kappan had been arrested in October 2020 while on his way to Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras to report on the gangrape and death of a Dalit woman. He was booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and charged with sedition.
The UP government alleged he and other Muslim men were the part of a larger conspiracy to “foment religious discord and spread terror in the country”.
