The Supreme Court deferred Siddique Kappan's passport release plea until November 2. Uttar Pradesh sought more time to obtain instructions on his application.Newdelhi,Oct 27, 2026 12:56 ISTThe Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred until November 2 the hearing on a plea by Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan seeking the release of his passport, which he had deposited as a bail condition in the Hathras conspiracy case, news agency Press Trust of India reported.A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe adjourned the hearing after Uttar Pradesh standing counsel Ruchira Goel said she had received the application that morning and needed time to seek instructions.The bench accepted the request and said it would hear the matter on November 2, according to PTI.Kappan was arrested in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, on October 6, 2020, while travelling there to report on the alleged gang rape and murder of a Dalit girl.
He was booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for an alleged conspiracy to incite riots following the incident. On September 9, 2022, the Supreme Court granted him bail after allowing his appeal against an Allahabad High Court order.The Supreme Court imposed several bail conditions, including that Kappan remain in Delhi for six months after his release from prison and report to the Nizamuddin police station every Monday.
It said that after six months, he could travel to his native place in Malappuram, Kerala, where he would also have to report to the local police station every Monday.“The appellant shall not leave the jurisdiction of Delhi without the express consent of the trial court,” the court had said. It added, “The appellant shall either in person or through lawyer shall attend the trial court on every single day.
The appellant shall deposit his passport with the investigative machinery.”The first information report in the case was registered under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the UAPA against four people who allegedly had links with the banned Popular Front of India.Police had earlier alleged that the accused were trying to disturb law and order in Hathras.The Allahabad High Court dismissed Kappan's bail plea in 2022, saying, “Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, nature of the offence, evidence on record, considering the complicity of the accused, the severity of punishment and the settled law propounded by the apex court, at this stage, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, this court is not inclined to release the applicant on bail.”Earlier, a Mathura court had rejected Kappan's bail application.The Dalit girl died at a Delhi hospital a fortnight after she was allegedly raped by four men from her village on September 14, 2020. She was cremated in her village in the middle of the night.
Her family alleged that the cremation was carried out without their consent and that they were not allowed to bring her body home one last time.The Supreme Court will now hear Kappan's request for the release of his passport on November 2 after the Uttar Pradesh counsel sought time to obtain instructions on his application.- Ends