NewsClick moves Delhi HC challenging FIR, arresting and remand order

New Delhi [India], October 6 (ANI): The Newsclick’s Founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha moved the Delhi High Court on Friday seeking the quashing 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.

The matter was mentioned before the bench of Chief Justice of Delhi High Court by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal with the prayer for an urgent hearing in the matter today.

The bench noted down the submissions and agreed to hear the matter on Friday.

According to the concerned lawyers, Newsclick has moved two petitions. One is seeking quashing of FIR and stating that arresting of accused persons is illegal. Another petition is challenging the Patiala House Court’s order sending them seven days of remand.

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 Govt 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 M/S 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 M/S PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt. Ltd through illegal means during a short span of five years from M/s 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 M/S 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 M/s 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, M/s 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.