New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to Delhi police on the petitions filed by NewsClick founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha and the human resources head Amit Chakraborty challenging their arrest over alleged Chinese funding to promote anti-national propaganda, news agency ANI reported.
The top court posted the matter for hearing on October 30.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra issued notice to the Delhi Police and sought its response by October 30. The development comes after the apex court agreed to list the matter urgently after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Purkayastha, said the pleas against the NewsClick founder and the HR head’s arrest be heard early.
Earlier on October 13, the Delhi High Court had dismissed their petitions challenging their arrest and subsequent police remand. They had moved the high court against their arrest and sought immediate release as interim relief.
However, the court refused to grant them relief, saying there was no procedural infirmity or violation of the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in arresting them, PTI reported.
It is to be noted that the Delhi police had registered cases against the NewsClick founder and the HR head under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly receiving funds to spread pro-China propaganda.
According to the FIR, a large amount of funds came to the news portal allegedly from China to "disrupt the sovereignty of India" and cause disaffection against the country.
The FIR further alleged that Purkayastha conspired with a group -- People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) -- to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 general elections.
Notably, last week, the Central Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation in the case and filed an FIR in the matter. The central agency also raided two locations linked to the firm.