Citing “HUMANITARIAN motives,” the Supreme Court on Monday allowed jailed journalist Siddique Kappan, who was arrested by UP police in October, to visit his ailing mother in Kerala, but under strict “safeguards”, including a ban on speaking to the media.

Kappan is in jail in Mathura in a case related to an alleged conspiracy to inflame religious enmity over the rape in Hathras of a Dalit girl and her death.

The order was issued by a court headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde after lead attorney Kapil Sibal, appearing at the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), requested a provisional five-day bond for him to Kappan saw his mother. The court said it is allowing the visit on humanitarian grounds.

Referring to the KUWJ’s request that Kappan be allowed to visit his mother Kadija Kutty, who is in her 90s, “in critical condition” and “not likely to survive for long,” the court said: ” In these circumstances, we consider it appropriate to allow the prisoner… to visit his mother and return to the prison at the end of the fifth day after he is allowed to travel ”.

However, the court, also made up of magistrates AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, established some conditions: the visit will be “only for the purpose of seeing his sick mother”; “He will not grant any interview to any medium, including social networks”; and “will not meet with members of the public.”

Kappan, the court said, “will have the right to meet with his family and doctors and with anyone else regarding his mother’s health.” “He will be escorted by the team of UP Police agents. Kerala State Police will cooperate with UP Police on the matter. It will be the responsibility of the UP Police to ensure that the prisoner… travels to and from his mother’s house, ”said the bank.

He said that “the police can monitor the house from outside, but will not enter the house when the prisoner … visits his mother.”

The conditions were imposed after Attorney General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the UP government, said that Kappan is likely to “take this opportunity to parade in public and gain support for his activities that would otherwise be contrary to the law “. The court said “it would serve the interests of justice, if adequate safeguards are incorporated into the order” for the visit.

The KUWJ – Kappan is a member – had moved the request for provisional bail saying that during a previous opportunity granted to see his mother “bedridden” via a video link, she “could not respond, nor look at the screen of the mobile since she is currently very critical and in the hospital ”.

The allegation added that the mother’s health “has deteriorated even more” and that “every time she regains consciousness, she demands to know her son, and asks everyone that it is the last wish of a mother to see her child.” Sibal told the bank that the doctors had opined that she might be alive only for the next two or three days.

In intervening, Mehta said the reasons are too “tempting” for him to agree and that he will file an answer to the guilty plea on Tuesday. “What is tempting? A person wants to see their mother one last time, ”CJI Bobde responded.

The SG maintained that they are putting up posters “as if he were a martyr”, and that money was being raised on his behalf. Mehta also said that during the video conference, the mother was unable to recognize Kappan and that a medical emergency is projected. “This is unfair. We are talking about the mother,” said the CJI.

Mehta argued that “there is no medical certificate proving the status of his mother.” The SG also argued that Kappan is associated with the Popular Front of India (PFI) which it said is trying to incite community violence. “It has nothing to do with journalism,” he argued while saying that the daily Thejas, for which Kappan worked before ending 2018, was the spokesperson for PFI. When Kappan goes to Kerala, political opinions will be formed, he said.

But the bank said it will take Sibal’s statement at face value and make sure he is not exhibited, has an armed guard and only stays home, does not give interviews and returns to jail. “We do not believe that a man, whoever he is, lies about his mother’s condition,” said the CJI.

KUWJ had previously filed a petition for bail, which is pending in court, alleging that Kappan has more than 10 years of experience as a journalist and is working with a news portal.

He said he was on his way to Hathras to report on the massacre of the Dalit girl and her death when she was arrested in Mathura on October 5, 2020. UP police tried to link Kappan with the banned Islamic Student Movement of India (SIMI) and said it was also “found associated with” PFI.

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