Shift Kappan to AIIMS: 11 Kerala MPs Write to CJI Ramana

Kappan’s wife had earlier written to the CJI alleging that he had been “kept chained like an animal”.

Eleven MPs have urged CJI Ramana for an urgent hearing on the matter so that Kappan could be shifted to AIIMS. 

(Photo: Altered by Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

A day after arrested journalist Siddique Kappan’s wife wrote to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, claiming her COVID-19 positive husband had been kept “chained like an animal” at a Mathura Hospital, a group of 11 Members of Parliament from Kerala on Sunday, 25 April, wrote to the CJI calling for an “urgent hearing” in his case.

In their letter, the lawmakers said that Kappan – arrested on the way to Hathras and charged under UAPA – is in a serious condition and must be shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

“We, therefore, implore you to save Shri Kappan’s life by giving him an urgent hearing in the matter requesting for issue of necessary orders to shift him from Mathura Medical College Hospital to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).”

Letter by MPs to CJI 

(Photo: The Quint)

The letter, signed by Kannur MP K Sudhakaran, Palakkad MP VK Sreekandan, Thrissur MP TN Prathapan and others stated that it was “shocking beyond words that such grave violation of human rights is happening in our India, a democracy”.

Siddique Kappan Chained Like an Animal: Wife

Siddique’s wife had written to the Chief Justice of India claiming that her husband had been “chained like an animal” at the Medical College Hospital in Mathura. She urged that necessary steps should be taken to ensure that the journalist is taken back to Mathura jail.

“Presently Mr Kappan is chained like an animal in a cot of the Medical College Hospital, Mathura, and he neither could take food, nor could go to toilet for the last more than 4 days, and is critical.”

Siddique’s wife Raihanth Kappan, in her letter to the CJI.

If immediate steps are not be taken, the situation could eventually lead to Siddique’s untimely demise, Raihanth wrote in her letter to the CJI.

Arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police, while on his way to Hathras in October 2020, Siddique was shifted to the Mathura Jail, where had sustained injuries after falling in the bathroom on 20 April. The next day, he tested positive for COVID-19.

6 Months On, Siddique Kappan’s Plea Remains Pending Before SC

Siddique’s Habeas Corpus plea was filed within 24 hours of his arrest on 6 October last year. However, over six months later, the matter is still pending in the Supreme Court.

“We challenged that his imprisonment was unlawful. Six adjournments have happened ever since we moved court. The plea was supposed to be listed on 9 March for final disposal, but it was eventually not heard. It has been over a month now that we are waiting for it to be listed again and over two months since the last hearing happened,” Siddique Kappan’s lawyer Wills Mathews had earlier told The Quint.

A Habeas Corpus plea is a writ used to challenge the unlawful detention or imprisonment of a person under Article 32 of the Constitution. It is meant to protect the fundamental rights of a person.