On Monday, Prabir Purkayastha, the founder of NewsClick, and the company’s HR head, Amit Chakravarty, took their case to the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court rejected their plea to intervene in their arrest and subsequent police custody under the anti-terror law UAPA. The bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud along with Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, acknowledged senior lawyer Kapil Sibal’s urgency in the matter and requested that the case documents be circulated.
Sibal, who was representing Purkayastha and Chakravarty, highlighted the urgency of the situation, noting that the journalists were in police custody, including a 75-year-old individual among the accused. The Chief Justice stated that he would make a decision regarding the listing of the case. Earlier, on October 13, the Delhi High Court had dismissed the plea against their arrest and subsequent police custody, which had been ordered by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on October 3. In their plea, Purkayastha and Chakravarty had challenged their arrest and the seven-day police custody, seeking immediate release as interim relief. Subsequently, on October 10, the trial court sent them to judicial custody for a period of 10 days. They face charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly receiving funds to promote pro-China propaganda. The FIR alleges that a significant amount of funding was received from China to undermine India’s sovereignty and foster disaffection against the nation. Additionally, it accuses Purkayastha of conspiring with the People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) to disrupt the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
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