Allow lawyer to meet journo in Mathura jail: Kerala body moves SC

Agra: With no progress on getting legal aid to the journalist arrested when he was on his way to meet the Hathras victim’s family, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) on Thursday approached the Supreme Court to intervene and allow his lawyer to meet him.

Siddique Kappan, a Malayalam-language journalist, had been arrested on October 5 with three others — Masood Ahmad, Atikur Rahman and Mohammad Aalam — in Mathura. All four face sedition and terror charges after Mathura Police and, later, Hathras Police claimed they were "conspiring to instigate caste riots" in Hathras. While the three others have secured legal representation, Kappan’s lawyer has not been able to meet him in Mathura jail.

So, the KUWJ has appealed to the Supreme Court to issue orders asking the jail authorities to allow Kappan to sign the vakalatnama authorising his legal representative, Wills Mathews, to act on his behalf. “The petitioner is left with no other alternative ... as neither applicants nor their lawyer are allowed to meet the accused for conference and for getting the vakalatnama signed,” the application said. The union sought permission for his family to meet him and for three union representatives and the lawyer to be able to talk to him over video-conferencing regularly.

In an affidavit, Mathews wrote that the conditions of the temporary jail where Kappan has been held are “horrific.” He said, “Even basic precautions against Covid-19 are not being taken. It amounts to a serious denial of the fundamental rights of the inmates and is in violation of the directions of the apex court.” The union has, consequently, also appealed to the apex court to pass an order asking the district judge Mathura or a high court judge to visit the New Mathura Jail to assess possible human rights violations.

In a separate application, the union has sought bail for Kappan, citing his diabetic condition and the “lack of Covid-19 precautions".