The story so far: The Special Cell of Delhi Police on October 3 raided the homes and offices of several journalists including columnists and commentators associated with the news portal NewsClick in an alleged terror case. The raids were followed by the arrest of Prabir Purkayastha, founder and Editor-in-Chief of the news portal and its Human Resources head Amit Chakraborty.
Editorial | NewsClick non-case: On the strange case of a terrorism FIR without a terrorist act
The journalists were questioned about the Delhi communal riots and the CAA agitation of 2019-20, the farmers protest of 2020-21, and whether they used encrypted phone messaging applications such as Signal. The phones and laptops of all the employees, contributors and consultants of the news portal were also seized. This incident has reignited the debate on the right to privacy and the right against self-incrimination in the context of actions by law enforcement agencies in the name of security.
