The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha who was arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell on October 3 last year for allegedly receiving illegal funding from China, routed through the United States.
Prabir Purkayastha was arrested under a stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case.
While ordering Prabir Purkayastha's release, the Supreme Court reportedly said that grounds of arrest have not been provided.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said the Remand copy was not provided and this vitiated the arrest and the arrest was thus held as 'void', indiatoday.in reported. Arrest, subsequent remand order of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha are declared to be invalid in eyes of law, the Supreme Court said.
The Supreme Court said that the release would be done on the basis of satisfaction of the trial court on furnishing of bail bonds.
Started in 2009, NewsClick is an independent media house which is known to report critically of the government.
The platform, along with American billionaire businessman Neville Roy Singham, has been making headlines since 2021 when the Enforcement Directorate named Singham in a money laundering case.
The Centre alleged that they were promoting Chinese propaganda through the platform, allegations that the organisation has denied. Singham, the founder of 'ThoughtWorks', an IT consulting company, is currently based in Shanghai. He allegedly financed NewsClick, triggering the controversy.
Prabir Purkayastha was arrested after raids were conducted at the houses of NewsClick employees and journalists on October 3. The raids had taken place at the residences of Prabir Purkayastha, along with Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Abhisar Sharma, Urmilesh, Aunindyo Chakraborty, Bhasha Singh, satirist Sanjay Rajaura, and historian and activist Sohail Hashmi.
