Hathras 'Conspiracy' Case: Allahabad High Court Reserves Verdict on Siddique Kappan's Bail Plea In UAPA Case

The Allahabad High Court today reserved its judgment on the bail plea moved by journalist Siddique Kappan in connection with the 'Hathras Conspiracy Case'.After arguments concluded before the bench of Justice Krishna Pahal today, the Court reserved its verdict. The plea had been moved by Kappan in February this year. Senior advocate I.B. Singh, assisted by Ishan Baghel, argued on behalf of Kappan.Kappan had moved the Court after a local court in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh had rejected his bail plea last year in July.Bail plea dismissed by the Mathura CourtKappan, who was booked under various offences under the stringent UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) was denied bail by the Court while taking note of the allegations against him. Additional Sessions Judge Anil Kumar Pandey had primarily taken into account the alleged material collected against Kappan during the investigation carried out to deny him bail.The court noted that the allegation against Kappan is that he, along with the co-accused committed acts that promoted enmity within the society and affected the communal harmony prevailing in the society.The Court also noted that it has been alleged that Kappan had received foreign funding for the purpose of affecting and damaging the integrity of the nation and that during the investigation, it had been found out that he is a worker of PFI and has been indulged in anti-national actsThe Court said that though Kappan submitted that he wanted to proceed to Hathras in the capacity of a Journalist, however, the identity card which was found with him was of a news platform, which had stopped its operations in the year 2018.Thereafter, in December 2021, a local court in Mathura had transferred the Sedition, UAPA case registered against Kappan and seven others in the alleged Hathras conspiracy case to a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Lucknow.The case against KappanKappan and others are facing charges under Sections 17 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Sedition (S. 124-A IPC), Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion (S. 153-A IPC), deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings (S. 295-A IPC) and Section 65, 72 and 75 of the IT Act.Earlier, Uttar Pradesh didn't have a designated court for the cases under UAPA, but the UP government on April 20, 2021, designated a Lucknow Court as a special NIA Court.It may be noted that as per Subsection (4) and Section 22 of the NIA Act, on and from the date when the Special Court is constituted by the State Government the trial of any offence investigated by the State Government under the provisions of this Act, which would have been required to be held before the Special Court, shall stand transferred to that Court on the date on which it is constituted.The background of the case against KappanSiddique Kappan along with other accused were arrested by the UP police under the above-mentioned charges while they were going to Hathras in 2020.Initially, they were arrested under the apprehension of causing a breach of peace and were produced before a court of the sub-divisional magistrate which sent them to judicial custody.Subsequently, they were booked under the UAPA alleging that he and his co-passengers were trying to incite communal riots and disrupt social harmony in the wake of the Hathras gangrape-murder case.In April 2021, eight people linked to the Popular Front of India, including its students' wing leader K A Rauf Sherif and Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, were charge-sheeted by Uttar Pradesh police's Special Task Force in a court here for sedition, criminal conspiracy, funding of terror activities and other offences.

Hathras 'Conspiracy' Case: Allahabad High Court Reserves Verdict on Siddique Kappan's Bail Plea In UAPA Case

Sparsh Upadhyay

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