High Court seeks Delhi Police response on NewsClick petition challenging FIR, arrest and remand order

New Delhi [India], October 6 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Friday sought response of Delhi Police on petitions moved by Newsclick’s Founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha for the direction to quash of FIR registered against him and others.

The plea also challenged a trial Court order granting remand to him and HR Head Amit Chakravarty in the matter.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal,appeared for Newsclick founder and others, stated that there are two separate petitions, I have challenged the arrest and sought quashing of the FIR. At 6 am, they took my client to a Magistrate, they knew I was the counsel but I was not told when my client was taken to the Magistrate.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for Delhi Police sought adjournment to respond in the matter as several facts have been pleaded which I don’t know.

Noted the submissions, the bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said the allegations are not of such a nature that can grant you immediate relief and fixed the matter for hearing on October 9, 2023.

However, the Court observed that in the remand application Delhi Police don’t disclose the grounds of arrest.

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

On Wednesday, the Trial Court had allowed the Delhi Police remand plea and sent the two accused to seven days of police remand.

Delhi Police 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 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.

Delhi Police in its remand plea 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,” said Delhi Police.

The accused persons have 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.

A false narrative has been propagated to discredit the efforts of the Indian Government to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. It was learnt that Prabir Purkayastha conspired with a group namely People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 general elections, as per Delhi Police.

“People’s Dispatch Portal, owned and maintained by PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt Ltd was used for intentionally peddling these false narratives through paid news in lieu of crores of rupees of illegally routed foreign funds as part of a conspiracy,” said the police in Court while seeking Prabir Purkayastha and Human Resources Head of the news portal NewsClick, Amit Chakravarty’s remand.

According to the Delhi Police, secret inputs have been received 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.

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 application moved in Delhi Court stated that Prabir Purkayastha, Amit Sengupta, Doraiswami Raghunandan, Bappaditya Sinha, Gautam Navlakha, Geeta Hariharan, Amit Chakravarty and Worldwide Media Holding LLC are shareholders of “PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt Ltd” having its registered office at New Delhi.

“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 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.