The Supreme Court on Friday gave permission for the 90-year-old mother of Siddique Kappan, a Malayalam journalist lodged in a Mathura jail on what his family and colleagues say are false terror charges, to speak to her son through a video call.

The apex court had initially wanted to direct the Uttar Pradesh government to allow videoconferencing facilities at the jail. But solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, pleaded there was no need for such a direction as the administration was willing to provide the facility.

Delhi-based journalist Kappan, 41, was arrested on October 5 while on his way to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh where a Dalit girl had been brutalised fatally. He was accused of being an extremist linked to the Popular Front of India and charged under the anti-terror law UAPA for allegedly trying to foment trouble.

The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), which denies Kappan is a PFI member, had filed a habeas corpus petition saying the state government was not providing any information on him.

During Friday’s brief hearing, KUWJ counsel Kapil Sibal told the bench that Kappan’s mother, who is in Kerala, wanted to speak to her son despite her fragile health. She frequently passes out, he added.

“Please allow her the videoconferencing option so that she can see her son, at least. We have filed an application. Please allow us,” Sibal pleaded.

Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, who headed the bench, immediately said “We will allow…” and proceeded to dictate an order when Mehta intervened.

The bench, which included Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian, later adjourned the matter.

Kappan, a native of Vengara in Malappuram, worked for the Malayalam news portal azhimukam.com in Delhi, where he is secretary of the local KUWJ unit.

In its plea, the KUWJ has said: “The accused Kappan is a diabetic and was on medication; (he) was denied medicines and deprived of his right to sleep for the whole night from 6pm on 5.10.20 to 6am on 06.10.20 under the pretext of questioning.”

It says Kappan was “badly slapped three times on his face after removing the spectacles (during) questioning by the local intelligence of police” and was beaten with a stick “on his thighs three times and was dragged in addition to mental torture”.

The KUWJ has sought “an independent enquiry by a retired judge of this Hon’ble Court to determine the facts connected with the illegal arrest and detention”.

Kappan’s family has been organising street dharnas in Kerala seeking his release.