A bail was granted to Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on December 23, 2022, in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
On October,31, when the journalist was denied bail by a Lucknow sessions court, he moved to the High Court in the PMLA case which led the journalist to remain in prison despite being granted bail by the Supreme Court (SC) in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case in September 2022.
The bail from the High Court means Kappan will walk free after more than 26 months since his arrest in October 2020 while he was on his way to Hathras, where a Dalit woman had died after being raped by Hindu men.
The journalist was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Information Technology (IT)Act apart from the PMLA by the law enforcement agencies.
The Supreme Court on September 9 granted bail to Kappan in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case, stating that “every citizen has the right to free expression”.
Kappan has covered politics, crime, and current affairs for Malayalam-language news outlets including Azhimukham, Thejus Daily, and Thalsamayam Midday Daily.
