The Delhi police’s allegations against Newsclick in its August 17 first information report (FIR) are ex facie untenable and bogus, the news portal said on Saturday. It added that these allegations have already been made, time and again, in investigations by three government agencies: the Enforcement Directorate, the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police, and the income tax department.
The Delhi police have filed a case under various sections of the anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), against Prabir Purkayastha, founder and editor-in-chief of NewsClick, and others. Mr. Purkayastha and the news portal’s human resources head Amit Chakraborty were arrested on October 3, and more than 40 journalists and authors linked to the portal have been questioned.
‘Attempt to muzzle the press’
The “completely absurd” nature of allegations in the FIR clearly show that the proceedings initiated against Newsclick are nothing but a blatant attempt to muzzle the free and independent press in India, the news portal said in a statement.
“None of these investigations led to any chargesheets or complaints over the last three years. In fact, Prabir [Purkayastha] was granted interim protection in these investigations. The latest FIR has been registered only to circumvent this protection and carry out illegal arrests under the draconian UAPA,” the NewsClick statement said.
It said that, pursuant to directions of the Special Judge, Patiala House court in Delhi, Mr. Purkayastha was supplied with a copy of the FIR registered by the Delhi Police on Thursday night.
‘Want FIR quashed’
“We immediately moved the High Court of Delhi seeking quashing of the FIR as well as release of Prabir Purkayastha and Amit Chakraborty from their illegal police custody,” NewsClick said.
It reiterated that it has not received any funding or instructions from China or Chinese entities. Further, Newsclick has never committed or sought to encourage violence, secession or any illegal act in any manner whatsoever, it said, adding that a perusal of Newsclick’s coverage, which is freely available online, should be sufficient to indicate the veracity of its claims.
Newsclick added that it has full faith in the Indian judicial system, and is confident that its stand will be vindicated.
Wide-ranging charges
The Delhi police have levelled a wide range of charges in their FIR against Mr. Purkayastha, American millionaire Neville Roy Singham, and activist Gautam Navlakha, a shareholder of Newsclick who is presently under house arrest as accused in a terror case.
The FIR was filed on August 17 after The New York Times reported that NewsClick had received money from Mr. Singham to spread Chinese propaganda.
Some of the charges mentioned in the FIR are: conspiring to provide legal aid to Chinese telecom companies such as Xiaomi and Vivo, which are facing tax evasion cases in India; acting against the national interest by promoting a false narrative against India’s pharmaceutical industry and the policies of the government in cohort with “anti-national forces”; inciting, supporting, and funding the farmers agitation, with the objective of creating law and order problems and causing a “huge loss of several hundred crores to the Indian economy”; and publishing news funded by money clandestinely routed from China.
