ED case against journalist Siddique Kappan: SC dismisses plea seeking transfer of trial to Kerala

New Delhi: In the money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan and six others, the Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition asking for a transfer of the trial to Kerala.

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The petition was filed by the first accused in the case and Campus Front of India (CFI) former general secretary Rauf Shareef.

The petitioner argued in the appeal that because the first case regarding the subject matter was filed in Kerala and the witnesses are from the state, the trial from Lucknow Court should be moved to Kerala Court. ED countered that the suspected money laundering activities actually took place in Uttar Pradesh.

After his detention in Uttar Pradesh, Siddique Kappan spent more than two years in custody without being tried. He was later released on February 2 this year.

Two cases were filed against him while he was reporting on the alleged rape of a young woman whose death sparked nationwide protests in 2020.

Kappan was charged under the strict anti-terror law UAPA on the basis of a sedition charge. The Enforcement Directorate filed a money laundering case against him in February 2022, alleging that he had received funds from the banned organization People's Front of India (PFI).

On October 5, 2020, Kappan, a resident of Malappuram, Kerala, was detained at the Mathura toll plaza together with three other individuals. He was en route to report about the gang rape and death of a Dalit woman in the town of Hathras, Uttar Pradesh.

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