New Delhi: The Supreme Court today, October 19, issued notice to the Delhi Police in the pleas by NewsClick founder and journalist Prabir Purkayastha and its human resources head Amit Chakraborty, challenging their arrest on October 3.
A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra was hearing the special leave petitions filed by Purkayastha and Chakraborty. The petitions challenged the Delhi High Court’s October 13 dismissal of the petitions filed by the two. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela had upheld their seven-day police remand.
Purkayastha and Chakraborty were arrested in a Delhi Police Special Cell case in which the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is invoked. The arrests took place after raids on several journalists connected to NewsClick.
Police acted on a media story that claims NewsClick received Chinese funding to criticise the Indian government’s policies and promote Chinese propaganda. The portal has denied these allegations and said in court that they did not receive any money at all from China.
American millionaire Neville Roy Singham, who is an accused in the case, has also rejected the allegations that he is running a funding network affiliated to the Chinese government’s propaganda arm.
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