INTRODUCTION
Journalist Siddique Kappan's case got highlight after the video of his asserting his belief in the Indian Constitution and Judiciary went viral. Journalist Siddique was on his way to report the Hathras case in Uttar Pradesh when he got arrested. Many reports who were reporting Hathras's case were wrongfully detained under the Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act and Sedition.
WHO IS SIDDIQUE KAPPAN AND CHARGES AGAINST HIM?
Siddique Kappan is a full-time reporter on retainer with the Malayalam News portal. He was detained on 5th October 2020 by Uttar Pradesh Police. He was on his way to report the gangrape-murder case of a Dalit girl in Hathras. Siddique is accused under four sections of the Indian Penal Code,1870 (IPC), two sections of Information Technology Act, 2008, and three sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967. All the charges against Siddique are related to terrorism, outraging religion, conspiracy and sedition.
Siddique was incarcerated in Mathura District Jail. According to the UP police indictment, Kappan "posed" as a reporter for Thejas, a defunct Malayalam newspaper who served as the spokesperson for the Indian Popular Front (PFI), a radical Islamist group. UP police suspect the PFI fueled violence during statewide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA). UP police demanded that the PFI be banned.
Siddique was a computer engineer who was a teacher at a school in his hometown Vergara and later spent nine years in Saudi Arabia looking for greener pastures, Kappan returned home in 2011 when his father passed away. He decides to stay to take care of his family and pursue his passion for journalism for the first time as a professional. After working for some time in Thejas editorial office in Kerala, he moved to the newspaper's Delhi office as a journalist.
EVENTS OF SIDDIQUE KAPPAN ARREST
On 6 October, Ashok, representing Azhimukham, filed an affidavit with the Supreme Court together with KUWJ to file an affidavit with the Supreme Court to establish the credibility of Kappan's journalistic career. In his affidavit, he stated that Kappan is a full-time servant and associate with Azhimukham and that she is a member of the Press Club and Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ).
After UP police and enforcement management claimed that Kappan and others in the vehicle had ties to the PFI and its student wing Campus Front of India and charged them with money laundering in the amount of Rs 100 crore and conspiracy to incite violence, the PFI has denied any connection with Kappan and those named in the indictment.
One of Kappan's latest reports on Azhimukham was an interview with Jenny Rowena, Ph.D., wife of Delhi University professor Hany Babu, arrested by the National Investigation Agency in the Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case. Hany Babu, jailed after being accused of Maoist ties, like Siddique, is currently knocking on the doors of the courts for fair medical treatment.
In February, Kappan was given five-day bail to meet his mother. Senior adviser Kapil Sibal, representing the KUWJ in SC, argued that the case was a "matter of personal freedom", referring to the case of Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, who was granted bail within a week. from his arrest for reasons of personal freedom in the case of aiding and abetting suicide. The Supervisory Committee noted on December 2, 2020, giving bail to Goswami, that "every case is different".
GRAVE VIOLATION OF JUSTICE
The case of journalist Siddique Kappan presents an unfortunate example of human rights violations and holds back journalism. While his case has at least gained some media attention, others are still caught up in a never-ending struggle between court appearances and bail requests. For example, Aasif Sultan, a Kashmiri journalist arrested on similar charges, has been detained for over 1000 days. One aspect that many of these cases share is the failure to comply with criminal law provisions. As they unfolded in the Kappan case, events revealed various criminal justice violations and Supreme Court guidelines, exposing the illegality of such detentions.
As per guidelines from D.K Basu vs State of West Bengal[1] and others the arresting police officer must prepare a note specifying the date and time of the arrest. The note should be attested by a family member or a respected member of the locality. The same was added in the CrPc through the amendment in section 41B.
In the case of Siddiqui Kappan, her family members did not know of her arrest until two days later. So, it's not about signing the memo. According to her lawyer, the time of arrest mentioned by the UP police was incorrect. He stated that the arrest took place at 10:20 am and not at 4:50 pm on October 5th. The arrest of an individual with verifiable journalistic credentials while in the process of reporting violates the media's fundamental right to free speech. The right against prison torture is a fundamental right implicit in Article 21 of the Constitution. Kappan also accused the police of physically and mentally torturing him during interrogation after his arrest. The most brutal violation, perhaps of all, was the denial of the right to adequate care after the diagnosis of Covid. According to the memo presented by KUWJ, Kappan had passed out in the bathroom after testing positive for Covid. At the time he already had diabetes and comorbidities.
Finally, a trial that goes on indefinitely without determining the guilt or innocence of an accused is in itself a punishment. It's been 255 days since Kappan's arrest. Neither bail has been granted to him nor have the charges against him been proven. The wound on the life and freedom of a citizen, a journalist, deepens every day that he is not granted relief without just cause.
REFERENCE
· https://www.article-14.com/post/reporter-truth-seeker-family-man-the-siddique-kappan-you-don-t-know
· https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/journalist-siddique-kappan-case-status/
[1] (1997) 1 SCC 416