SC allows jailed Kerala scribe’s ill mother to virtually talk to him

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed bed-ridden mother of Kerala based Malayalam journalist Siddique Kappan, to see and talk to him through video conferencing.

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) which has challenged Kappan’s arrest, told the court that Kappan’s mother is unconscious and craves to see her son and urged the court to allow the meeting between ailing mother and son through video-conferencing.

Sibal told the court that the jail rules do not allow video conferencing, though the trial court has allowed it subject to the jail rules

Kappan is jail in Uttar Pradesh since October 5 when he was arrested while going to Hathras to report the brutal gangrape and death of a Dalit girl.

When Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde heading a bench also comprising Justice A.S.Bopanna and Justice V. Ramasubramanian appeared inclined to allow ailing mother to speak to her son, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court to leave it to the Uttar Pradesh government, assuring the court that the needful will be done and the government will take care of it.

In the wake of the assurance by the Solicitor General Mehta appearing for Uttar Pradesh government that the State government would facilitate the meeting between Kappan and his mother through video conferencing, the court adjourned the matter to March 9, 2021.

Kappan, a Kerala based journalist, working for a Malayalam news portal, ‘Azhimukham’ and also the secretary of the KUWJ’s Delhi unit, was arrested along with three others in Uttar Pradesh in October last year while on his way to Hathras to report about the gang rape and death of the 19year-old Dalit girl.

They were later booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and also slapped with charges of sedition.