I am happy, a ray of justice belatedly: Siddique Kappan's wife on his bail
Lucknow (PTI): "A ray of justice belatedly, I am happy with it," Siddique Kappan's wife Raihana Siddique said on Friday after the Allahabad High Court granted bail to the Kerala journalist in a money laundering case.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh of the Lucknow bench of the high court granted bail to Kappan, currently lodged in the Lucknow district jail.
In a statement to PTI, Raihana Siddique said, "He has been granted bail by the high court in the ED case. A ray of justice belatedly. I am happy with it. But, despite getting bail from the Supreme Court four months ago in the UAPA case, its (sureties) verification has not been completed till now."
He was arrested two years back while he was on his way to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, where a Dalit woman had died after allegedly being raped.
He and three others -- Athikur Rehman, Alam and Masood -- were accused of having links with the Popular Front of India and being a part of conspiracy to instigate violence.
He was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Information Technology (IT) Act by the police.
In September, the Supreme Court granted him bail in that case. But he continued to be in jail because of the money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate.
Kappan's lawyer Mohamed Dhanish KS said the grant of bail by the high court has paved the way for his release from jail after completion of formalities.
His lawyer told PTI, "For the first case, the Supreme Court had granted him bail on September 9. But sureties verification are not done even after three months. So that's the main issue for walking out (of jail). And regarding today's verdict, we have to go through the order. It is still not uploaded."
In her statement, Raihana Siddique also said, "Alam, the driver of the car he was travelling in, is still in jail despite being granted bail, because of verification problem. Hope he gets justice and will be released soon and reach his family."
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MediaOne TV Facebook page restored after block linked to ‘government request’
Kochi: The official Facebook page of Malayalam news channel MediaOne TV has been restored after being blocked without prior notice, the broadcaster said on Wednesday.
The channel was quoted by Maktoob as saying that the restriction was lifted automatically, with Meta Platforms informing it that the action had been taken following a “government request” which has now expired or been reversed.
The development came shortly after the channel approached the Kerala High Court challenging the blocking of its page, terming it arbitrary and in violation of legal provisions and judicial precedents. The High Court had issued notice to Meta via email hours before the restriction was withdrawn.
In its petition, the channel said access to its Facebook page had been restricted for users in India without citing any specific content or alleged violation. It contended that while individual posts may be taken down under applicable a rule, blocking an entire page goes beyond the scope of such measures.
The incident followed an earlier action taken against the channel in 2022, when the Ministry of Information and transmitting prohibited it from transmitting. It cited national security concerns regarding the Ministry of Home Affairs' refusal of security clearance.
The Supreme Court of India in April 2023 set aside the ban, observing that national security claims cannot be made without substantive basis and that criticism of government policies does not render a media outlet anti-national.
