Case Against Siddique Kappan & 3 others Transferred To Addl. District & Sessions Judge On UP Police's Application

In an order passed on Tuesday (22^nd December), the Mathura District and Sessions Judge has directed to transfer the case of Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan and 3 alleged PFI activists who were held on their way to Hathras, to the court of Additional District and Session Judge from the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate.

This order has been passed by District and Sessions Judge, Mathura Yashvant Kumar Mishra, upon the application of UP Police's Special Task Force (which is investigating the case) to transfer all the Remand Records from the Court of CJM, Mathura to the Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mathura.

This application by STF was filed in the light of the Apex Court's Judgement in Bikramjit Singh vs State of Punjab, which held that apart from Sessions Judge, no other Court has the jurisdiction to deal with cases related to UAPA.

As per the report of The Indian Express, Defence Counsel Shashwat Anand has said that the state government moved an application as it "admitted their mistake".

"Citing the jurisdiction, we raised the issue in habeas corpus apart from seeking bail for the accused. The state government has now admitted their mistake and moved an application seeking transfer of the matter to the court of Additional Session Judge. With Tuesday's order, it is clear that custody of the accused till December 22 was illegal," Anand has said.

Initially the Defence had argued that their remand is illegal as CJM Court doesn't have the Jurisdiction to deal with UAPA Cases, now, with this application filed by UP Police STF, it is clear that the STF has admitted the initial stand of Defence.

Background

Kappan, a freelance journalist reporting for Malayalam portals, was arrested by the UP police on October 5 along with three others in an FIR registered for alleged criminal conspiracy to create societal unrest in the wake of Hathras incident.

The stringent provisions of anti-terror legislation Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and sedition were invoked against Kappan and others. A local court in Mathura had remanded them to custody.

Following his arrest, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) filed a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court challenging Kappan's custody. The KUWJ argued that the arrest was illegal and unconstitutional.

On October 12, a bench lead by the Chief Justice of India expressed disinclination to entertain the petition and suggested to Sibal (who was appearing for KUWJ) that the petitioner should approach the High Court.

The UP Government has told the Supreme Court that independent journalist Sidhique Kappan should not be granted relief as he has links with banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and was heading towards Hathras on the instructions of Delhi Riots accused, Md. Danish.

The Mathura Court had, on Friday (13th November), rejected the bail plea of 3 alleged PFI activists who were held on their way to Hathras along with a Kerala journalist (Siddique Kappan) while they were going to meet the family members of an alleged gang-rape and murder victim.

The next date of hearing on the Habeas Corpus (in Allahabad HC), filed on behalf of Rahman, Ahmed and Alam is scheduled for January 5.

Click Here To Download Order

Read Order