In response to arguments made by Prabir Purkayastha, the founder and editor in chief of Newsclick, and Amit Chakraborty, the website’s head of human resources, challenging their detention under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly receiving Chinese funding to spread anti-national propaganda, the Supreme Court on Thursday gave notice to Delhi police. Delhi Police was contacted by a bench of Justices BR Gavai and PK Mishra, who then scheduled a hearing for October 30. The Delhi High Court’s decision to uphold the trial court’s order remanding them to police custody was challenged by Purkayastha and Chakraborty in a petition to the Supreme Court. Since then, they have been kept in judicial custody.
The duo were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on October 3 after it searched 30 locations connected with the online news portal and its journalists in a case filed under the UAPA following allegations that it received money for pro-China propaganda.
Purkayastha and Chakravarty subsequently moved the High Court challenging the arrest as well as the seven-day police custody and sought immediate release as an interim relief.
According to the FIR, a large amount of funds to the news portal allegedly came from China to “disrupt the sovereignty of India” and cause disaffection against the country.
The probe agency also alleged that Purkayastha conspired with a group – People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) – to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.