the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act case against journalist Kappan

• The Supreme Court has exposed the tenuous nature of the UAPA case against a journalist.
• In India, foisting of false cases is not uncommon but the prolonged imprisonment of the journalist in UP was quite an egregiously malevolent instance.

Police actions

• To ensure that he was kept in prison for a long time, the police invoked provisions of the anti-terror law (related to raising funds for a terrorist act and a conspiracy to commit it).
• Described as a member of the Popular Front of India.

Bail issue

• It did not go by the usual penchant for citing Section 43D(5) of the UAPA to deny bail.
• The provision contains a legal bar on granting bail if the Court is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accusation against those held is prima facie true.
• A 2019 judgement forbids a detailed analysis of the evidence at the bail stage.
• Bail order demonstrates how an unbiased approach can help judges relieve officials & political leaders of their belief that by invoking anti-terror laws, they can keep disfavoured accused in prison for long years.
• At the same time, it reflects poorly on the judiciary that it took two years for the courts to grant liberty to the journalist.