Siddique Kappan again to Uttar Pradesh; SC dismisses plea

NEW DELHI: A plea asking transferring of the trial proceedings of the Siddique Kappan involved case to Kerala was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Monday. With this, it is more confirmed that the trial procedure remains within the purview of Uttar Pradesh courts. The plea was submitted by former Campus Front to India general secretary Rauf Shareef.

The plea said the witnesses mostly hail from Kerala ergo asked the court to move the procedures to the southern state. Considering this, the court even notified the enforcement directorate to respond. However, the ED stayed fixated on their stance and beseeched the court never to move the trial proceeding out of Uttar Pradesh. The agency also said the alleged money laundering happened inside UP making it reasonable enough to conduct the trial proceeding in UP rather than going the petitioner's line.

As of now, the proceedings are moving ahead in the Lucknow court. Kappan got bail in the UAPA case in September 2022. The ED however stymied bail for the same holding Kappan in prison inside UP. It was only after a late intervention from SC that Kappan headed home to Kerala after a long 3 years of incarceration.