SC holds NewsClick Founder’s arrest illegal
The Supreme Court (SC) of India has declared the arrest of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha on charges of UAPA “invalid in the eyes of the law” and ordered his immediate release from custody on Wednesday after Purkayastha’s legal counsel Kapil Sibal stated a copy of the remand application was not provided to them even after arrests by the Delhi Police
Purkayastha and News Click’s HR Head Amit Chakravarty were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police last year on October 3 on charges of colluding with Chinese firms to spread Chinese propaganda. Officials had accused Purkayastha and Chakravarthy of allegedly receiving millions in foreign funds from Chinese organizations to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.
Additionally, more than 50 journalists working with NewsClick were detained, and several digital devices (phones, laptops, hard drives etc.,) were seized by the investigative authorities. Authorities had also filed an 8,000 plus-page chargesheet against Purkayastha and raided 88 places in Delhi and 7 in other states.
NewsClick had often protested these allegations, citing them as baseless and a bid to silence independent journalism. Since the Covid-19 pandemic NewsClick had been very vocal against the current NDA regime since the early days of Covid-19 pandemic and had covered many controversial issues like the CAA-NRC protests, farmers protest etc., that were usually overlooked by big media houses.
On Wednesday, a bench of SC Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta noted that the Delhi Police had not provided a copy of the remand application to Purkayastha or his counsel before passing the remand order. The bench stated the mandate previously given under the Pankaj Bansal v Union of Indian & Ors. Judgement last October also applied to the case.
A good day for independent media!#PrabirPurkayastha #NewsClick pic.twitter.com/e3h5AoMtDP
— NewsClick (@newsclickin) May 15, 2024
The court cited the previous judgement that stated investigative authorities must supply written grounds of arrest to money laundering accused, will also apply to cases under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Under these grounds the apex court determined NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha’s arrest by the Special Cell of Delhi Police under the anti-terror law was illegal.
The court also ordered senior advocate Kapil Sibal to furnish proper bail bonds for Purkayastha’s release, as the Delhi Police had already filed a chargesheet in the trial court, in relation to the case.
NewsClick Founder released by SC after 8 months of remand
NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakravarty were arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police last year on October 4. The arrests followed a New York Times report stating NewsClick had been receiving money from foreign firms to create division in the country by boosting Chinese propaganda.
Purkayastha and Chakravarty had appealed to the Delhi High Court challenging the arrests on October 13, but the session bench headed by Justice Tushar Rao Gedela had quashed the appeal and sentenced them to further judicial remand.
The two had been remained in police remand since then, until in December when Chakravarty appealed to the Delhi High Court stating he was in possession of “material information” about the allegations against him and Purkayastha, and was willing to disclose it to the Delhi Police.
In January 2024, the Delhi High Court allowed his appeal to turn an approver in the case and granted him bail on May 6. Purkayastha, however, appealed to the apex court after languishing in jail for the last 8 months.
During Wednesday’s SC hearing, the trial court noted that Purkayastha or his legal counsel senior advocate Kapil Sibal had not received a copy of the remand order by the investigative authorities until the NewsClick founder was taken into judicial custody.
Sibal argued that the Delhi Police had not provided him or Purkayastha with a copy of the remand notice that informs the accused about the ground of his arrest even when the remand order was passed from Delhi High Court. He argued that the discrepancies were in direct violation of the fundamental Right to Life and Personal Liberty enshrined in Articles 20, 21 and 22 of the Constitution of India.
He also cited the similarities between PMLA 2022 (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) and UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act), referring to the observations made in the judgement of Pankaj Bansal back in October 2023.
Following his arguments the bench of SC Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta quashed the charges against NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha, citing his arrest by the Special Cell of Delhi Police as illegal in accordance to the law.
The court also ordered Sibal to furnish bail bonds for the NewsClick founder as a chargesheet had already been presented by the Delhi Police in relation to the case.
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