SC asks UP govt if journalist Siddique Kappan could be sent to Delhi for treatment

The Supreme Court on Wednesday opined that arrested journalist Siddique Kappan should be sent to a hospital in the national capital for better medical treatment.

The apex court asked the Uttar Pradesh government to inform if the arrested journalist could be shifted to Delhi for better treatment.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed the Supreme Court's suggestion, saying thousands of inmates with similar illnesses are there and there are thousands of law-abiding citizens getting treatment in Mathura hospital.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a medical report of Kappan while hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) seeking its immediate direction to transfer the jailed journalist from Mathura hospital to AIIMS, New Delhi, due to his serious ill-health.

The Uttar Pradesh government has refused the claim of Kappan's wife that the accused has been chained to a cot.

Kappan was arrested at a toll plaza near Hathras in October last year, while on his way to cover the gangrape and murder of a 19-year-old girl. An FIR had been registered under the UAPA in the case against Kappan by the Uttar Pradesh Police.

( With inputs from ANI )