The Delhi High Court on Friday, 13 October, dismissed the pleas filed by NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and the portal's Human Resources (HR) head Amit Chakraborty challenging their arrest and remand in a Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case for allegedly receiving money to spread pro-China propaganda.
"This court does not find any merit in the petitions. The same are accordingly dismissed," a single-judge bench led by Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said. The duo is presently under judicial custody since 10 October.
What was said: In a detailed judgment, the Bench said that "it appears as of now" that the grounds of arrest were indeed conveyed to Purkayastha and Chakraborty, "as soon as may be, after the arrest."
"It appears that the substratum of the allegations which would comprise the reasons for arrest is indeed contained in the said application. It is also beyond dispute that the said application in writing was furnished to the counsel for the petitioner during the remand proceedings and within 24 hours of his arrest," the Bench said.
The court also said that there was no "procedural infirmity" or "violation of the provisions of the Section 43B of the UAPA or the Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India" and the arrest was in accordance with the law. and as such, the arrest are in accordance with law.
The High Court is yet to hear the plea by the two accused seeking quashing of the UAPA FIR against them, Bar and Bench reported.
What happened? On 3 October, the Delhi Police's Special Cell arrested the duo after they were named in a First Information Report (FIR) filed on 17 August, for their alleged conspiracy of "peddling a narrative against India."
It was this FIR that led to the raids at the residences of over 40 journalists associated with NewsClick.
What does the FIR say? The Delhi Police in its FIR against news portal NewsClick linked the organisation with "illegally infusing foreign funds" through Chinese telecom companies as part of a "larger criminal conspiracy" to "disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India."
The FIR invoked multiple sections 13 (unlawful activities), 16 (terrorism), 17 (raising funds for terrorism), 18 (punishment for conspiracy), and 22 (Punishment for offences by companies, societies or trusts) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, besides sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Apart from Purkyastha and Chakravarthy, activist and accused in the Bhima Koregaon case Gautam Navlakha, and US-based tech mogul Neville Roy Singham have also been named in the FIR.
Why was the case filed? The FIR was preceded by a New York Times (NYT) report published in August 2023 which alleged that the news portal was funded by businessman Singham for "pushing Chinese propaganda."
Meanwhile...The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday, 11 October, has registered a fresh case against NewsClick, in relation to the alleged Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) violations by the company.
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