Justice delayed, but happy: Siddique Kappan's wife on grant of bail to him

The wife of Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan on Friday welcomed the bail granted to him in a money laundering case, but said it was "justice delayed".

"Justice delayed, but I am happy. I am happy he has got bail. I am unhappy with the fact that it took so long," Raihanath Kappan told the media at her residence in Vengara in Malappuram district.

The Allahabad High Court granted bail to Kappan in the money laundering case today.

His wife said that bail order was not yet available so she did not know what the conditions were except that two persons have to be found to stand as sureties.

She said that she returned from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh two day ago.

Kappan, currently lodged in the Lucknow district jail, 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 were accused of having links with the Popular Front of India.

In September, the Supreme Court granted him bail in connection with that case. But, he continued to be in jail because of the money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate.

His wife said that even in the earlier case, despite passage of four months since grant of bail, verification of sureties have not yet been completed.

"So I do not know how long it will take in this one," she said.

Meanwhile, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), which has been fighting for his release all this while, welcomed the order, but said it was delayed.

"KUWJ will keep fighting till Kappan's innocence is proved," R Kiran Babu, General Secretary of KUWJ, said in a statement.

At the time of his arrest in October 2020, the journalist and the three others were accused of being a part of a conspiracy to instigate violence.

He was then booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Information Technology (IT) Act.

He is currently lodged in the Lucknow district jail.