The media, particularly what is termed as the ‘national’ media in India is gasping for breath. The latest is the arrest of NewsClick owner and editor Prabir Purkayastha who was earlier also booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for accepting funds from a person with Left leaning ideology from the US but currently living in Shanghai, to run the news portal. The case pending before the Delhi High Court includes charges of overvaluing of shares, diversion of funds and violation of foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations. Prabir Purkayastha had secured bail from the Delhi High Court and an order restraining the Enforcement Directorate from ‘coercive action’ against them. But in August this year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) moved the High Court to vacate its earlier order offering protection to Purkayastha. The Court is yet to pronounce its verdict on NewsClick’s plea to quash an Economic Offences Wing criminal case against the portal. But the government has now slapped terrorism charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevent Act (UAPA) against not only the organisation but its functionaries as well.
The Delhi High Court’s observations are that the facts demonstrated that the ED ‘failed to discharge its functions and exercise its powers.’ “The ED is not expected to be vindictive in its conduct and must be seen to be acting with utmost probity and with the highest degree of dispassion and fairness,” the judges had observed. Merely because the accused could not satisfy the ED’s questioning is not sufficient grounds for arrest, the Court stated. The judges further observed that ED had to specifically find reason to believe that the accused are guilty of an offence under the PMLA but mere non-cooperation in response to the summons does not merit arrest. “It is not open to the ED to expect an admission of guilt from the person summoned for interrogation,” the court asserted.
It is to circumvent the case which is sub-judice that the authorities used the UAPA to arrest Purkayastha and question all the journalists working for NewsClick and others associated with it. The allegations are that the news portal is being used as a propaganda machinery for the Chinese. The general view of the journalist fraternity is that there are several leading Indian businesspersons that accept Chinese investments and that Chinese goods have not stopped entering the country despite the much-touted “Make in India,” slogan that is being waylaid by the bureaucratic red tape. Clearly, Prime Minister Modi has no patience for any media that questions his governance model and acts of omission and commission under his regime. His disdain for the media is loud and clear when he refused to give a single press conference since he assumed office in 2014. It’s a different matter that the Indian media, barring a few brave-hearts, has normalised this assault on democracy and chosen to remain pliable and to join the bandwagon of cheerleaders of the government. No wonder press freedom ranking in India is falling every year.
