Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, who has been languishing in jail despite being granted bail by the Allahabad High Court more than a month ago reportedly owing to delay in verification of the sureties, is likely to walk out of the Lucknow district jail on Thursday, according to sources here.
Sources said that Kappan would have walked out on Wednesday but the sureties could not be submitted in the court on Tuesday owing to the Bar Council polls and the same was submitted in the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) Court on Wednesday.
Sources said that Kappan's release order had reached jail authorities and that he could walk out of the prison on Thursday.
Kappan was earlier granted bail by the Supreme Court but he was not released from jail as he faced another case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the PMLA. The Allahabad high court had granted him bail in the PMLA Case on December 23 last year.
Kappan was lodged in the Lucknow district jail after being arrested while on his way to Hathras in October 2020 with some others to meet a Dalit teen who had been gang-raped.
Police had claimed, while arresting Kappan and some others in Mathura in October 2020, that the journalist had connections with the Popular Front of India (PFI) and had also accused him of trying to hatch a conspiracy to incite violence.
Kappan had approached the apex court after the Mathura district court as well as the Allahabad High Court rejected his bail application.
While the opposition accused the BJP government of harassing Kappan as he was a Muslim, the saffron party leaders had sought stern action against him alleging that he was part of a conspiracy to foment violence in the state.
Published 01 February 2023, 16:27 IST