A city court on Wednesday issued notice to the Delhi police on a plea filed by NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakravarty, seeking a copy of the FIR. This comes after the duo was arrested in a case lodged under anti-terror law UAPA following allegations about the news portal having received money for pro-China propaganda.
The Delhi Police was directed by Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur to file its response by October 5 when the court will hear arguments on the application. Meanwhile, the court agreed to hand over a copy of the remand application, filed by police, to Advocate Arshdeep Singh Khurana -- the counsel for the accused.
Purkayastha's counsel urged for FIR copy
Khurana requested the court for a copy of the FIR so he could move the Delhi High Court to consider the accused's legal options. During the period of remand, the court also permitted daily one-hour meetings between the counsel and the accused. After the city police submitted that its Special Public Prosecutor was not present to argue the matter, the judge posted the matter for October 5.
Notably, Purkayastha and Chakravarty were remanded in police custody for seven days after they were produced at the judge’s residence, officials said. Earlier on Tuesday, Police had searched more than 30 locations, questioned several journalists in connection with the case, and arrested Purkayastha and Chakravarty.
Over 40 'suspects' questioned
In addition, the Police also sealed NewsClick's office in Delhi. According to officials, as many as 46 "suspects" were questioned and digital devices, including laptops and mobile phones, and documents were taken away for examination.
Among those questioned were journalists Urmilesh, Aunindyo Chakravarty, Abhisar Sharma, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta as well as historian Sohail Hashmi, satirist Sanjay Rajoura and D Raghunandan of the Centre for Technology & Development.
(With inputs from PTI)
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