Lucknow Court Denies Bail To Siddique Kappan In PMLA Case

The Lucknow sessions court today rejected the bail plea filed by Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case initiated against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The order in the case was reserved earlier this month by District Judge Sanjay Shankar Pandey after concluding the hearing in the matter. The rejection of his bail plea means he would continue to remain in jail despite being granted bail by Supreme Court in other cases in September 2022.It may be noted that the Supreme Court, on September 9, granted bail to Kappan, who has been under the custody of UP Police since October 6, 2020, in connection with the Hathras Conspiracy case.A bench comprising Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat passed the order while allowing the appeal filed by Kappan against the Allahabad High Court's order denying him bail. Kappan was kept under custody for alleged offences under Sections 17/18 of UAPA, Sections 120B, 153A/295A IPC, 65/72 IT Act for alleged conspiracy to incite riots following the gangrape-murder of a Dalit minor girl in Hathras.Kappan, who has now spent almost two years behind bars, was arrested, along with other accused by the UP police in October 2020 while they were proceeding to report the Hathras rape-murder crime. While initially he was arrested under the apprehension of causing a breach of peace, subsequently, he was booked under the UAPA alleging that him and his co-passengers were trying to incite communal riots and disrupt social harmony in the wake of the Hathras gangrape-murder case.Kappan had moved the Allahabad High Court after a local court in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh had rejected his bail plea last year in July. While denying bail to Kappan, the Allahabad High Court had stated that he had "no work" at Hathras.On August 23, Kappan's co-accused cab driver Mohammad Alam, was enlarged on bail by the High Court. It was observed in the bail order that "incriminating material" was recovered from Kappan's possession but, no such material was recovered from Alam.

Lucknow Court Denies Bail To Siddique Kappan In PMLA Case

Sparsh Upadhyay

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