Read Time: 05 minutes
Puryakastha and Chakravarty were arrested on October 3 following a series of raids and were remanded in police custody for seven days after they were produced at the judge’s residence
A Delhi Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Delhi police on a plea filed by NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakravarty, arrested in a case lodged under the UAPA following allegations about the news portal having received money for pro-China propaganda, seeking a copy of the FIR.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Hardeep Kaur of Patiala House Court directed the Delhi Police to file its response by October 5, when the court will hear arguments on the application.
The court, for the meanwhile, agreed to hand over a “copy of the remand application”, filed by Delhi police, to Advocate Arshdeep Singh Khurana, the counsel for the accused.
Puryakastha and Chakravarty were arrested on October 3 following a series of raids and were remanded in police custody for seven days after they were produced at the judge’s residence, on Tuesday night.
The raids were conducted in the wake of allegations made in a New York Times article that NewsClick was being paid to boost Chinese propaganda.
According to reports, the Delhi Police on Tuesday searched more than 30 locations, questioned several journalists in connection with the case, and arrested Purkayastha and Chakravarty. Police sealed NewsClick's office in Delhi.
It is also stated that 46 'suspects' were questioned and digital devices, including laptops and mobile phones, and documents were taken away for examination. Among those questioned were journalists Urmilesh, Aunindyo Chakravarty, Abhisar Sharma, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Sohail Hashmi, satirist Sanjay Rajoura and D Raghunandan of the Centre for Technology & Development. After being questioned for over six hours, they were allowed to go.
NewsClick and Purkayastha had earlier approached the High Court seeking a copy of the ECIR registered by ED in September 2020 in the money laundering case. The Court, in 2021, had directed the ED not to take any coercive action against the website and its founder.
Subsequently, in August 2023, the ED moved the High Court seeking directions to vacate the interim order asking ED not to take "any coercive action" against PPK NewsClick Studio Private Limited, which owns a news portal NewsClick and its founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha, in connection with a money laundering case. The same is under consideration and notice has been issued in the matter.
A few days later, Delhi Police's Economic Offence Wing (EOW) also moved the High Court seeking directions to vacate the interim order asking it to not take "any coercive action" against the website and its founder. Notice has been issued in EOW's plea. Both matters are under consideration before Justice Saurabh Banerjee.
Please Login or Register
