New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to get arrested journalist Siddique Kapan admitted to a government hospital in Delhi for his medical treatment.
A bench led by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for UP, that Kappan can be moved back to Mathura jail after he recovers. “This should be done only on medical advice,” the bench said, while emphasising that its order was in the interest of not just Kappan, but also the state.
The court’s order came after it perused the medical reports produced by the UP government, which disclosed injuries on Kappan that he sustained after a fall in the jail’s toilet on 20 April.
Arrested on his way to Hathras to cover the September 2020 gangrape incident, Kappan has been in jail since October 2020.
He tested positive for Covid on 21 April and was admitted to a hospital in Mathura. According to his wife, Kappan fell because he was weak and was tested only after the incident.
In a letter written to the CJI on 24 April, Kappan’s wife alleged that the journalist was “chained like an animal to a cot” in the hospital, requesting the court’s intervention in the matter.
Mehta, however, denied that Kappan was chained. He informed the court Wednesday that Kappan tested positive during an antigen test, but was found negative in the RT-PCR test. Kappan, Mehta said, was back to Mathura jail.
‘Cannot request any Covid patient to vacate’
Mehta, who expressed his reservations against the order, asked the court to direct a particular hospital to arrange a bed for Kappan, considering there were no beds available in the current scenario.
“I cannot request any Covid positive patient to vacate,” Mehta told the bench, when it asked him to coordinate. However, the court refused to accept this plea of Mehta and told him to work out the modalities.
He strongly resisted the suggestion to move out Kappan for medical treatment and cautioned the bench that such a move would be at the cost of a Covid-positive patient already admitted to a hospital.
“He is 42-years-old, is Covid negative and does not have serious co-morbidities. There are many patients, both in Mathura as well as in Delhi, who despite being Covid positive and having co-morbidities are not able to get a bed,” Mehta said.
To stress his point before the bench, Mehta shared his experience of how he is being approached by his colleagues as well as family for help.
“We are in a crisis situation. There is a huge resurgence of Covid and people are struggling with life,” he said, urging the bench not to indulge the request made by Kappan’s wife.
Mehta, who was given 45 minutes to consult the state government, said any court order in the matter should be made pursuant to a medical board’s advice and that the Uttar Pradesh government was committed to looking after the prisoners lodged in the jails there.
Advocate Wills Mathews, who argued for Kappan’s wife, said if the state of UP was unwilling to take burden of the journalist’s treatment, then he should be given interim bail.
“He is critical. He is unable to eat anything in the jail and needs immediate medical aid,” Mathews told the court.
Also read: Riots planned in Hathras after CAA plan failed: UP Police charge sheet against Kappan, 7 others
Kappan’s association with PFI
During an hour-long hearing in the matter, Mehta drew the court’s attention to Kappan’s association with PFI — a Kerala-based organisation — which he alleged is involved in anti-national activities. When asked, he told the court that a few states had banned PFI and that the Centre was in the process of issuing a notification too.
The court’s brief order also did not touch upon the merits of the case, under challenge by the Kerala Working Journalists Union that had moved a habeas corpus petition for Kappan’s release immediately upon his arrest.
Rather, the bench disposed of the petition, giving liberty to Kappan to approach the appropriate trial court in Mathura where the UP Police has filed the charge sheet against him and seven others on 3 April, accusing them of sedition and attempting to incite violence in the state. He is also facing anti-terror charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
(Edited by Neha Mahajan)
Also read: 122 days & 6 adjournments later, Siddique Kappan’s habeas corpus plea still pending in SC