Allahabad High Court has issued notice to the central government as well as UP Police in the habeas Corpus petition of 3 alleged members of the Popular Front of India (PFI), who were arrested on their way to Hathras as they were going to meet the family of the family of the deceased rape victim. Atikur Rahman, a student, Alam, a cab driver and Masud, an activist were apprehended and arrested by the Deputy Superintendent of Police on October 5.

Their bail applications were rejected by Mathura Court on November 13 stating that their bail is embargoed under section 43-D (5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). They were all arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police after a laptop and some ‘objectionable’ literature relating to ‘Justice for Hathras Victim’ was allegedly recovered from their possession while they were en route to Hathras. It is alleged that they are linked with Popular Front of India’s (PFI) student wing Campus Front of India (CFI) and were traveling from Delhi.

A bench of Justices Pritinker Diwaker and SC Sharma has issued notices to the Central government, State of UP, Superintendent of Jail (District Jail, Mathura) and Prabal Pratap Singh (Sub-Inspector, PS Maant- the complainant).

The accused were charged under sections 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion etc), 124A (sedition), 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) of Indian penal Code; Sections 17 (raising funds for terrorist act) and 18 (conspiracy) of UAPA; and section 65 (Tampering with computer source documents), 72 (Penalty for breach of confidentiality and privacy) and 75 (Act to apply for offence or contravention committed outside India) of the IT Act

The plea filed by the 3 accused challenges the order of judicial remand and challenges the jurisdiction of Magistrate Court to issue the same as offences under the UAPA are to be tried by a special court. The plea contends that the two accused being social activists were going to meet the bereaved family and Alam, the taxi driver was ferrying them to the destination. It is argued that the FIR was lodged as an afterthought as the police realised that their detention was unlawful.

The pleas states, “the petitioners are unfortunate victims and scapegoats of the high-handed of the police authorities. They have committed no offence which is clear from a bare perusal of the sections slapped on them and the allegations in the FIR which are completely false and bogus and no case as against them is made out”.

The petitioner is the father-in-law of Atiku r Rahman, Shakhavat Khan who pleads that the writ be issued quashing the remand order of CJM Mathura and that the FIR also be quashed. An interim relief has also been sought for interim bail and permission to interact with lawyers and family members. Interestingly, the petition also urges that the District Judge, Mathura, be directed to visit the Mathura District jail to inquire into the human rights violations in the jail premises, if any, and submit a report before the High Court, as reported by LiveLaw.

The court has set the date for next hearing on December 14.

The order may be read here.

Related:

Hathras case: Mathura court rejects bail plea of two CFI members and driver
Hathras case: Mathura court reserves bail order of three charged for sedition
We are trying to discourage Article 32 petitions: Chief Justice of India

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Kerala Union of Working Journalists has filed a Habeas Corpus Petition in Supreme Court to produce Journalist Sidhique Kappan, who has allegedly been taken in custody by the Uttar Pradesh Police near Hathras. According to information available so far, there is no news of Sidhique Kappan, who is a Delhi-based Journalist working with a Malayalam news portal Azhimukham. He is also secretary of Kerala Union of Working Journalists Delhi unit, and a senior reporter. He had gone to cover the Hathras horror of the alleged gangrape, and murder of the 19-year old Dalit woman.

Modi-Yogi plan is clear. Make the rape and murder of a Dalit girl to a Hindu-Muslim issue. That is the reason to arrest a Muslim journalist from Kerala. https://t.co/wnB29R0wOM

— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) October 6, 2020

This is the statement that the Kerala Union of Working Journalists issued on Tuesday:

Mr. Siddique Kappan, secretary of Kerala Union of Working Journalists Delhi unit, and a senior Delhi based journalist working for several Malayalam media houses, including azhimukham.com, had gone to Hathras on Monday morning to cover the present situation in the area. 

We understand that he was taken into police custody by Uttar Pradesh police from Hathras toll plaza. Our efforts and the efforts by some advocates based in Delhi to contact him were not successful. 

The Hathras Police Station and the State Police department has not provided any information so far on taking him into custody. 

Mr. Kappan was trying to do his duty as a reporter. 

We urge you to get him released at the earliest. 

Thanks and Regards

Miji Jose 
President.

According to the news report, Mathura police claim “suspicious literature, one that could have an adverse impact on peace,” was recovered from the four men. However, police are yet to reveal the content of the literature or what laws were violated, stated the news report, adding that the police statement did not acknowledge that  Kappan is a journalist. Police have claimed that the four in custody were linked to the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its student body Campus Front of India. In  December 2019 the UP government had alleged PFI involvement in vandalism in the State when the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) were underway across India.

The Hindu reported that the Delhi-based journalist was among four people arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police when they were on their way to Hathras. These are the latest arrests, after the State police claimed that a “conspiracy to defame the State government and trigger caste riots over the Hathras incident” was afoot. The four were taken into custody at a toll plaza in Mathura when they were travelling in a car from Delhi to Hathras, reported The Hindu. The car was stopped after “police found their activities suspicious,” following which they were taken into custody, added the Mathura police according to the news report. The four are: Ateeq-ur-Rehman, Siddiqui Kappan, Masood Ahmed and Alam. 

The president of the KUWJ state committee Thiruvananthapuram, KP Reji, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking Kappan’s immediate release. “Our relentless efforts to contact him were in vain. The Hathras Police Station and the State Police department has not provided any information so far on taking him into custody,” The Hindu quoted Reji’s letter to the PM. Azhimukham editor KN Ashok, said Kappan was a regular contributor and on October 5, he had messaged that he was going to report from Hathras. “That is the only information we got from him,” Ashok told The Hindu, adding that there was no response when they tried to contact Kappan in the evening. They learned later that he was in UP police’s custody, adding that the police did not inform them about the arrest.

Related:

Hathras Horror: UP Police in damage control mode with multiple FIRs, arrests
It has shocked our conscience: Allahabad HC takes cognisance of Hathras incident
Intercepted, questioned, harassed: A typical day for Kashmiri journalists

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