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Newsclick Row: Delhi HC Dismisses Prabir, Amit Plea Challenging Arrest

By LokMarg 13th October 2023

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the petitions moved by NewsClick founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha and its Human Resources head Amit Chakraborty challenging their arrest and remand in the UAPA case registered by Delhi Police’s special cell. Recently both were arrested in the case and are currently in judicial custody.

The Bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on Friday while dismissing the petition said they didn’t find any merits in the case. Earlier this week on Monday after hearing at length the matter from all sides, the same bench had kept the order reserved.

During the arguments, Kapil Sibal appeared for Prabir Purkayastha and submitted that grounds of arrest are to be given to the magistrate. “This is far more serious. To date, we don’t have grounds for arrest,” he said.

“We are dealing with liberty here. The prosecution can call counsel from legal aid but you can’t call the defence counsel? This whole argument about Kashmir. I will show you the email- it is shocking. Had lawyers been present, he would have argued on merits. Not a penny has come from China,” counsel said.

The counsel appearing for Amit Chakravarty submitted that he is suffering from 59 per cent disability, is paralysed and cannot function without a wheelchair.

“Since 2021 I have been summoned by the Delhi Police and Enforcement Directorate on various occasions and a lot of my information about bank accounts, emails – everything has been seized. Not once did I apply for Anticipatory bail. I was not on interim protection at any stage and I’ve never been arrested,” counsel said.

“I’m not responsible in any way for the content that is published on the website & I perform administrative tasks. Throughout this arrest remand arrest, I have been clubbed together & I haven’t got an opp regarding my circumstances. The Remand app makes no mention of my physical disability etc,” said Amit Chakravarty’s lawyer to court.

While opposing the pleas, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for Special Cell and submitted that one of the most serious allegations that came to light between the email exchanges between petitioners and people sitting in China where they were planning to create a map of India without Arunachal Pradesh, they call it the northern border of India.

Huge funds come from China and the purpose is to ensure that the integrity of the country is compromised. Thus the offences are very serious. This is an arrest under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Solicitor General argued.

Judge in his order said that keeping in view the fact that serious offences affecting the stability, integrity, sovereignty and national security have been alleged against the petitioner, this Court is not inclined to pass any favourable orders.

The Delhi Police’s Special Cell in its FIR against news web portal NewsClick’s founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha stated that People’s Dispatch Portal, owned and maintained by M/S PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt. Ltd. has been used for intentionally peddling these false narratives through paid news in lieu of crores of Rupees of illegally routed foreign funds as part of the conspiracy. It is further learnt that big Chinese Telecom companies like Xiaomi, Vivo, etc.

Delhi Police FIR further stated that foreign funds in crores have been infused illegally in India by Indian and foreign entities inimical to India in pursuance of conspiracy with the intention to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, to cause disaffection against India and to threaten the unity, integrity, security of India.

Foreign funds in crores have been infused illegally in India by domestic and foreign entities inimical to India in pursuance of conspiracy with the intention to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, to cause disaffection against India and to threaten the unity, integrity, security of India, FIR stated. (ANI)

It May be Time to Look at the Newsclick Raids Less Hysterically

By Sanjoy Narayan 9th October 2023

The megaphones have been laid down now. The selfies and clips of journalists and others protesting in Delhi are no longer going “viral” (that unpleasant word used to describe when something spreads without much control) and the media have gone back to looking for the next big thing. As this week began, their focus, at least briefly, turned to the mass assault by Hamas, a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organisation, and the dark shadow of yet another war that could well be in the making.

Perhaps the slight sense of distance from last Tuesday’s raid by the Delhi Police against Newsclick, an Indian news portal, those who run it, and several people who work for it, is an opportunity for a bit of retrospection. The raids created massive ripples all over, particularly in India but also across the world. A protest meeting was organised; megaphones were deployed; and parallels were drawn to a 21-month period during 1975-77 when India’s then Prime Minister, the late Indira Gandhi declared a state of Emergency, and when, among many other deplorably repressive acts, many Indian journalists were arrested; newsrooms were commandeered by government censors and free speech was muzzled.

Many, including at least one of the few editorials in big Indian newspapers that deplored the raids, have called the police action an “undeclared emergency”, and lamented that it is an act of vendetta and unbridled harassment. Other, more shrill voices cried that it was yet another blow to freedom of expression, in particular, freedom of the Indian media, and an attempt by the government to silence journalists that are critical of the government.

The Newsclick raids were probably triggered by charges that the organisation may have received financing from an international pro-China investment group, which allegedly has questionable motives. Whether Newsclick received funds from that group or whether its activities were influenced by it are questions that have been raised and the Indian authorities have been investigating these. The raids were a part of that probe.

If pro-China organisations have infiltrated the Indian media and are influencing editorial policies that could conceivably be anti-India, it is a matter of great concern. It should not be anybody’s case that the media ought to be non-critical of or subservient to a country’s government. It definitely should because that is the role of the media: of holding a mirror to the face of power. And if the media in India are constrained from freedom of expression by those in power that is deplorable and unacceptable.

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What if there are instances where anti-government sentiments or editorial strategies are fuelled by pro- Chinese propaganda? Can that not be an attack on a country’s sovereignty? If Russia, say, influences a US media outlet by financing it and nudging its editorial policy, would the US authorities think it is all hunky dory in the celebration of freedom of expression? These are the sort of issues that those who wielded microphones to shrilly denounce the police action against Newclick should ponder.

There are two other issues, apparently related to this, but really they should be viewed separately.

The first concerns the raids themselves. Swarms of policemen arriving at the homes of dozens of journalists, including consultants, freelancers, and rookie journalists who worked for the news outlet and had little or nothing to do with its finances or how it was run is like deploying a nuclear missile to kill a mosquito. It is nothing less than pointless harassment and show of power, ostensibly aimed at scaring innocent individuals.

In the end, the police arrested two individuals–the top executive who owns and runs the organisation and one of his senior aides. Both of them have been detained under a law aimed at preventing unlawful activities, and it is believed investigations are continuing. If the authorities intended to investigate Newsclick’s funding, they ought to have done just that instead of coming down like a bulldozer against people who might have been no more than inconsequential cogs in the machine.

The second thing that the incident has led to is the focus on how constrained or not the Indian media is. The thing is that a considerable amount of that constraint is self imposed. Those who work as big fish in large Indian media houses would never publicly admit it but anyone with average intelligence knows that much of India’s largest media groups fight shy of criticising the regime in power, its policies, and actions. Some of those who run newsrooms in such groups may personally have views that are not supportive of many of those things but rarely do they make those views public via the media that they run or the content that they create for their audiences.

It is speculated that some of this happens because of tacit, “invisible” and unspoken influences that a ruling regime may wield. In some instances, it could come in the form of simple economics–a dependence on the government and its institutions to provide advertising revenues; in other cases, it could in the form of coteries that are formed when interests of business groups that run media groups intertwine with or are dependent on government policies; in yet other cases, it could be common political interests between those in power and those who run media.

The recent raids and the furore over them have swung the focus on these two things: recurring instances of highhandedness by the enforcement authorities; and the benign willingness of many media groups not to ruffle the feathers of those who wield power. Both are deplorable and undesirable.

NewsClick Peddled False Narratives In Lieu Of Crores Of Illegally Routed Foreign Funds: Delhi Police

By LokMarg 6th October 2023

The Delhi Police’s Special Cell, in its FIR against NewsClick founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha, stated that People’s Dispatch Portal, owned and maintained by PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt. Ltd. has been used for intentionally peddling false narratives through paid news in lieu of crores of rupees of illegally routed foreign funds as part of a conspiracy.

It is further learnt that foreign funds include those from big Chinese Telecom companies such as Xiaomi and Vivo, among others.

“Foreign funds in crores have been infused illegally in India by Indian and Foreign entities inimical to India in pursuance of conspiracy with the intention to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, to cause disaffection against India and to threaten the unity, integrity, and security of India,” Delhi Police stated in the FIR.

Delhi Police through a remand application on Wednesday alleged that NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha conspired to peddle the narrative that Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh are disputed territories with the help of a Shanghai-based company.

Delhi Police informed the court through the remand application that secret inputs revealed that Prabir Purkayastha, Neville Roy Singham (said to be an active member of the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China) and some other Chinese employees of Neville Roy Singham-owned Shanghai-based Company by the name of StarStream have exchanged emails which expose their intent to show Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as not part of India.

The remand plea further stated that such attempts by these persons reveal their conspiracy to peddle a narrative, both globally and domestically, that Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh are disputed territories.

“Their attempts to tinker with the northern borders of India and to show Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as not parts of India in maps amount to an act intended towards undermining the unity and territorial integrity of India,” Delhi Police stated.

The accused persons also conspired to disrupt supplies and services essential to the life and abet damage and destruction of property by protraction of farmers’ protests through such illegal foreign funding, they added.

Meanwhile, Purkayastha on Friday moved the Delhi High Court seeking the quashing of FIR registered against him and others. His plea also challenged a trial court order granting remand to him and HR Head Amit Chakravarty in the matter.

On Thursday, Patiala House Court of Delhi allowed a plea moved by Prabir Purkayastha and Amit Chakravarty for the supply of a copy of FIR to them.

Since April 2018, such fraudulent funds in crores of rupees have been received by PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt. Ltd through illegal means during a short span of five years from Worldwide Media Holdings LLC, USA and others, the remand report stated.

“Such foreign funds have been fraudulently infused by one Neville Roy Singham through a complex web of several entities including Worldwide Media Holdings (incorporated by Jason Pfetcher, a close associate of Neville Roy Singham, People Support foundation (Jodie Evans, wife of Neville Roy Singham being director), Justice and Education Fund, GSPAN LLC (owned by Neville Roy Singham), The Tricontinental Ltd Inc US, Centro Popular De Midas, Brazil,” it added.

It was learnt that both Tricontinental India Pvt Ltd and GSPAN India Pvt Ltd were incorporated by The Tricontinental Ltd, USA and GSPAN LLC USA respectively to infuse funds in India by circumventing the existing rules for receipt of foreign funds by NGOs.

Further, it is learnt that Gautam Navlakha who has been a shareholder in PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt Ltd since its inception in the year 2018, remained involved in anti-Indian and unlawful activities such as actively supporting banned Naxal organisations and having anti-national nexus with Gulam Nabi Fai who is an agent of ISI of Pakistan.

It was also learnt that Gautam Navlakha has been associated with Prabir Purkayastha since 1991 when they incorporated Sagrik Process Analyst Pvt Ltd, stated Delhi Police. (ANI)

NewsClick Founder, Editor-In-Chief Prabir Purkayastha Arrested Under UAPA

By LokMarg 3rd October 2023

The Delhi Police arrested two persons including founder and editor-in-chief of NewsClick Prabir Purkayastha on Tuesday after quizzing them in their office following raids at his premises under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other sections, the police officials said.

According to the Delhi Police, a total of 37 male suspects have been questioned at the premises, and nine female suspects have been questioned at their respective places of stay.

“Regarding the search, seizure and detentions carried out today in connection with a UAPA case registered with Special Cell, so far two accused, Prabir Purkayastha and Amit Chakravarty have been arrested. A total of 37 male suspects have been questioned at the premises, and nine female suspects have been questioned at their respective places of stay,” the police said.

It further said that the digital devices, documents etc have been seized and collected for examination.

The Editor-in-Chief of NewsClick, Prabir Purkayastha and writers Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Urmilesh were brought to the special cell offices in the national capital on Tuesday as part of the investigation as Delhi Police launched a crackdown against NewsClick and its journalists earlier this morning in connection with an FIR registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The Delhi Police’s Special Cell on Tuesday afternoon sealed the office of the online news portal in the national capital.

The raids were carried out at more than 30 locations in connection with a case registered on August 17 under UAPA and other sections of IPC, including 153A (promoting enmity between two groups), and 120 B (criminal conspiracy).

Meanwhile, Union Minister Anurag Thakur, while speaking to reporters in Bhubaneswar said that if action has been taken, then there must have been evidence or complaint.

Flagging concerns over the incident, the Editors Guild of India, in a statement, said it was “deeply concerned” about the raids at the residences of senior journalists early this morning.

“Their laptops, mobile phones and other devices have been seized. Senior journalists have been taken into custody by the Delhi Police, allegedly for ‘questioning.’ Media reports suggest that the raids have been widespread. The raids are reportedly being conducted in connection with an FIR filed under the draconian UAPA and laws relating to criminal conspiracy and disruption of communal harmony against journalists, including those associated with the website Newsclick.in,” the Guild said in a statement.

Earlier, on August 10, a report in the New York Times had alleged that NewsClick was part of a global network that receives funding from American billionaire Neville Roy Singham.

Singham is known as a socialist benefactor of far-left causes and is at the centre of a lavishly funded influence campaign that defends China and pushes its propaganda.

Singham is also said to have close ties with the Chinese government’s media machine. (ANI)