The Allahabad High Court on Friday granted bail to Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case against him by the Enforcement Directorate.
The order paves the way for his release, three months after the Supreme Court granted him bail on September 9 in all other cases registered against him. Kappan had moved the High Court after he was denied bail by a Lucknow court.
Earlier this month, after a Lucknow court framed charges against Kappan and six others in the PMLA case, the ED filed a prosecution complaint (equivalent to a chargesheet) against the accused in February last year. The other accused are KA Rauf Sheriff, Atiqur Rehman, Masood Ahmed, Mohd Alam, Abdul Razzaq and Ashraf Khadir.
Police have claimed that the accused are members of the banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) and its student wing Campus Front of India (CFI).
Kappan was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police in October 2020 and booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act, and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), while he was involved in the death of a young Dalit woman. After that, he was going to Hathras of UP along with the three others.
While the police alleged that Kappan was part of a conspiracy to disturb peace in the area, his lawyers claimed that he was on his way to report a case involving the woman.
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