Lucknow, Dec 23 (PTI) “A ray of justice belatedly, I am happy with it,” Siddique Kappan’s wife Raihana Siddique said on Friday after the Allahabad High Court granted bail to the Kerala journalist in a money laundering case.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh of the Lucknow bench of the high court granted bail to Kappan, currently lodged in the Lucknow district jail.
In a statement to PTI, Raihana Siddique said, “He has been granted bail by the high court in the ED case. A ray of justice belatedly. I am happy with it. But, despite getting bail from the Supreme Court four months ago in the UAPA case, its (sureties) verification has not been completed till now.” He was arrested two years back while he was on his way to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, where a Dalit woman had died after allegedly being raped.
He and three others — Athikur Rehman, Alam and Masood — were accused of having links with the Popular Front of India and being a part of conspiracy to instigate violence.
He was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Information Technology (IT) Act by the police.
In September, the Supreme Court granted him bail in that case. But he continued to be in jail because of the money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate.
Kappan’s lawyer Mohamed Dhanish KS said the grant of bail by the high court has paved the way for his release from jail after completion of formalities.
His lawyer told PTI, “For the first case, the Supreme Court had granted him bail on September 9. But sureties verification are not done even after three months. So that’s the main issue for walking out (of jail). And regarding today’s verdict, we have to go through the order. It is still not uploaded.” In her statement, Raihana Siddique also said, “Alam, the driver of the car he was travelling in, is still in jail despite being granted bail, because of verification problem. Hope he gets justice and will be released soon and reach his family.” PTI NAV SMN SMN
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