Shillong, October 6: The Delhi High Court is set to hear a plea today challenging the arrest of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and the human resources department head Amit Chakravarty.
As per India Today, senior advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the plea in court, emphasizing that the arrests were made illegally and in violation of Supreme Court decisions. Sibal urged the bench to expedite the hearing.
Purkayastha and Chakravarty were arrested on Tuesday in a case under the anti-terror law UAPA, related to alleged funding from China for disseminating false information about the central government through NewsClick.
In the midst of these developments, the Delhi Police has sealed NewsClick’s office in the national capital. A trial court had directed the police to provide the duo with a copy of the FIR on Thursday, citing relevant Supreme Court and Delhi High Court orders.
Additionally, the Delhi Police questioned journalists Urmilesh and Abhisar Sharma for the second time this week in connection with the case.
On Tuesday, raids were conducted at 88 locations in Delhi and seven in other states involving suspects named in the FIR and identified through data analysis.
A total of 46 journalists and contributors associated with NewsClick were interrogated, and their mobile phones and electronic devices were seized.