The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned for the third week of January a plea seeking immediate release of a senior Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, who was arrested along with some others by the Uttar Pradesh Police on October 5 while on their way to cover the Hathras incident.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde, adjourned the matter after the senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), sought time to file a reply to the additional affidavit filed by the Uttar Pradesh government.
Earlier, the bench had sought a response on the plea from the Centre, the Uttar Pradesh government, and its police chief on the matter.
An FIR had been registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the case. Kappan is lodged in the Mathura jail, the court was informed earlier.
The KUWJ had approached the Supreme Court with a habeas corpus plea to know the whereabouts of its Delhi unit secretary and senior journalist. But earlier the court refused to intervene while advising the union to move the Allahabad High Court instead.
KUWJ has sought the fulfillment of Kappan's basic rights such as legal help and access to family.
The police had said it has arrested four people having links with the PFI in Mathura and identified the arrested persons as Siddique from Malappuram, Atiq-ur Rehman from Muzaffarnagar, Masood Ahmed from Bahraich, and Alam from Rampur.
The affidavit said STF has been conducting a detailed probe and have been filing progress reports before the state government from which it has been revealed that further incriminating evidence has been found against all the four accused including the accused Kappan.
( With inputs from ANI )
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