Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan gets 5-day bail to see mother in Hathras case

The Supreme Court on Monday granted a fiveday interim bail to Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan to visit his bed-ridden ailing mother and directed the Uttar Pradesh police to take him to his mother's house in Kerala.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde, and also comprising Justice A.S. Bopanna and Justice V. Ramasu-bramanian also directed that “the police may guard the house from outside, but shall not go inside the house, when the prisoner Sidhique Kappan visits his mother”.

Passing an order granting five-day interim bail to Kappan, the court also addressed the “grave apprehensions” of the Uttar Pradesh government over the likelihood of Kappan using his release to have himself “paraded in the public and gather support for his activities which are otherwise against the law”.

Saddling Kappan with conditions during his interim release for five

days, the court said that during his visit to meet his ailing mother he “shall not give any interview to any media including the social media” and “He shall not meet the members of the public.”

However, the court said that Kappan will be “entitled to meet his relatives and doctors and anybody else in connection with his mother’s health”.

Directing the Kerala police to cooperate with the UP police, the court ordered that Kappan will be escorted by a team of UP police officers and it will be its (police) responsibility to ensure that Kappan travel to and from his mother’s house.

The Kerala Union of Working Journalist had earlier moved the top court for the release of its Delhi-based secretary Kappan.