Lucknow court frames charges against Siddique Kappan in money laundering case

A court in Lucknow district has framed charges against Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, and six others, in the money laundering case, reports Live Law. The charges were framed on December 6 on Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s petition.

ED filed the prosecution complaint against Kappan in February 2021. The other accused in this case are KA Rauf Sherif, Atikur Rahman, Masud Ahmad, Mohammad Alam, Abdul Razzak, and Ashraf Khadir.

On September 9, the Supreme Court granted bail to Kappan, who has been under the custody of UP Police since October 6, 2020, in connection with the Hathras Conspiracy case. However, due to the rejection of his bail in the PMLA case, Kappan continues to be in jail.

Kappan, who has now spent over two years behind bars, was arrested, along with other accused by the UP police in October 2020 while they were proceeding to report the Hathras rape-murder crime.

Kappan had earlier moved the Allahabad High Court after a local court in Mathura had rejected his bail plea last year in July. While denying bail to Kappan in August this year, the Allahabad High Court had stated that he had "no work" at Hathras

On August 23, Kappan's co-accused cab driver Mohammad Alam was given bail by the High Court. Granting bail, the court observed that "incriminating material" was recovered from Kappan's possession but, no such material was recovered from Alam.