The Delhi High Court has reserved its orders regarding the plea filed by Newsclick founder Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakraborty. The plea challenges their remand, FIR, and subsequent arrest by the Delhi Police under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
On October 4, Purkayastha and Chakravarty were remanded to seven-day police custody until October 10, following allegations that their news portal received funds to propagate pro-China content.
During the court proceedings on Tuesday, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Purkayastha, highlighted a crucial issue. “Even till today, they have not supplied grounds of arrest to me. What they have filed is an affidavit with one document, which is the arrest memo,” he said.
Also Read: NewsClick controversy: Delhi police raid Kerala residence of former staff, laptop and phone seized
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta countered, stating, “The grounds of arrest are clearly mentioned in the remand application.”
Sibal firmly rejected the claim, asserting, “All these facts are false. Not a penny has come from China. But that’s on merit. Today they have only shown an arrest memo. The law is clear on the subject, that grounds of arrest have to be given at the time of arrest.”
Mehta then directed the proceedings towards the core issues, stating, “Two fundamental matters require examination: the arrest itself and the subsequent remand in police custody. We need not delve extensively into the allegations made.”
Also Read: ‘Foreign funds illegally infused in India through Chinese firms’: NewsClick FIR details
He presented evidence indicating that a substantial sum, approximately Rs 75 crore, had allegedly originated from an individual residing in China, with the purported aim of destabilising the stability and integrity of the country.
Mehta also presented email exchanges with individuals in China, where discussions revolved around displaying a map including Jammu and Kashmir, using terminology commonly employed by the Chinese to describe the “northern border of India.”
In response to these statements, Sibal rejected the argument concerning Kashmir, saying, “Please take note of what the Solicitor General has stated. We have consistently maintained that Indian law applies. Not a single rupee has come from China. However, the merits of this matter should be addressed separately. Unfortunately, our legal counsel was not provided an opportunity to present these points.”
Mehta informed the high court that the central government intended to file a review plea against the Supreme Court’s Pawan Bansal verdict. This ruling mandated the provision of written grounds for arrest to the accused.