The plea by Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan seeking relaxation of bail conditions to mark his presence at a police station in Uttar Pradesh every week was accepted by the Supreme Court on Monday.
The Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Sandeep Mehta relaxed the condition set in its September 2022 bail order.
In September 2022, the Apex Court granted bail to Kappan in the case filed against him by the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Kappan was working as a reporter for a Malayalam news portal Azhimukham, when he was arrested with three others in UP, while he was in his way to report on the gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl in Hathras.
The Secretary of the Delhi unit of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), was booked under UAPA and later on under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
As per the FIR, Kappan had close links with extremist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI). He was part of the larger conspiracy to foment religious discord and spread terror in the country.
He has remained lodged in a Lucknow jail since December 2020.
In the UAPA case, he was denied bail by lower courts and the Allahabad High Court, before the Apex Court in September 2022.
In December 2022, Kappan was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in the PMLA case.