New Delhi: Justice Uday Umesh Lalit – who was on Saturday sworn in as the 49th Chief Justice of India – will hear the bail plea of journalist Siddique Kappan and a petition of Elgar Parishad accused activist Gautam Navlakha on his first working day.Saturday was a non-working day in the Supreme Court.According to the cause list uploaded in the apex court website, CJI Lalit will hold the bench in the court number one with Justice S. Ravindra Bhat on Monday, August 29.Kerala-based journalist Kappan, arrested in October 2020 while on his way to report from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, where a teenage Dalit woman had been killed after allegedly being gang-raped by ‘upper’ caste men, has approached the top court seeking bail in the case. Kappan was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the alleged ‘conspiracy’ case.A Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court had earlier this month rejected his bail application. The court had said Kappan had “no work” in Hathras.His plea, on being mentioned for an urgent hearing, was directed to be listed on August 26 by former Chief Justice N.V. Ramana last week.In the plea, Kappan argues that his plea had been rejected by the high court without citing proper reasons.Kappan’s prolonged incarceration and the trials faced by his family during it have led to global condemnation and is often noted as a marker of India’s declining press freedom.NavlakhaChief Justice Lalit, along with Justice Bhat, will also hear an appeal filed by human rights activist Navlakha against the Bombay high court order of April 26, rejecting his plea that he be placed under house custody instead of being lodged in prison.The Elgar Parishad case, first investigated by the Pune Police and then by the National Investigation Agency, has been criticised internationally as a witch-hunt against activists, scholars and lawyers who are critics of the establishment and assist marginalised communities.Justice Lalit was part of the Supreme Court bench which granted permanent medical bail to 84-year-old poet Varavara Rao. The judge, during the hearing, had noted that the investigating officer had “sufficient opportunity” to interrogate Rao in custody.Out of the total 16 arrested accused in the case, Jesuit priest Stan Swamy died at a private hospital last year during judicial custody. Only one accused – Sudha Bharadwaj – is out on regular bail, which was granted to her by the Bombay high court in December last year. Thirteen other accused are currently lodged in different jails.The top court is also scheduled to hear a batch of pleas challenging the Karnataka high court verdict which dismissed the petitions seeking permission to wear hijab inside the classroom, saying it is not a part of the essential religious practice in Islamic faith.(With PTI inputs)
