Siddique Kappan's bail plea hearing in PMLA case postponed till September 29

He was arrested while he was on his way to Hathras where a Dalit girl was allegedly raped and later found dead

The Lucknow Sessions Court has postponed the hearing of Siddique Kappan’s bail petition in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case registered by the Enforcement Directorate until September 29. The regular sessions court of Additional District Judge-1, which was supposed to hear the bail application moved by Siddique Kappan on Friday, has deferred the hearing as the judge was not available.

“Regular sessions court Additional District Judge (ADJ) 1 was not sitting on Friday, September 23. The application was transferred to another court but that court was not ready for hearing today. We requested to give the next date for Monday, September 26. But the hearing was postponed to next available date of the regular court which is on September 29,” Mohamad Dhanish K.S., Mr. Kappan counsel told The Hindu.

The Supreme Court (SC) on September 9 had granted bail to Mr. Kappan in other cases but the journalist continues to remain in the Lucknow prison as he is yet to get relief in the PMLA case.

Mr. Kappan, who originally from Kerala, worked as a reporter for Malayalam news website Azhimukham and also held the post of secretary in Delhi Unit of Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) has been lodged in Uttar Pradesh jails since his arrest in October 2020 while he was on his way to Hathras, where a Dalit woman had died after allegedly being raped. Mr. Kappan was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Information Technology (I-T) Act apart from the PMLA.