The Delhi High Court on Friday pointed out the absence of grounds for the detention of Prabir Purkayastha, the founder of NewsClick, and the company's HR head, Amit Chakraborty, in relation to a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The questions were reportedly raised by the single-judge bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela.
Arrest and absence of grounds
As per media reports, during the hearing, the question on Delhi Police's failure to provide reasons for the arrest the founder and HR of news platform NewsClick in the remand application surfaced repeatedly.
According to Justice Tushar Rao Gedela of the Delhi High Court, this omission seemed to contradict a Supreme Court judgment, leading to discussions about the transparency and legality of the arrests.
"In the remand application, the grounds of arrest are not disclosed. A Supreme Court judgment is staring you in the eye," remarked the judge.
Raids and accusations
The arrest of Prabir Purkayastha and Amit Chakraborty followed a series of raids conducted by law enforcement agencies across the country.
These arrest was prompted by an allegations made in a New York Times article, which pointed at NewsClick's involvement in promoting Chinese propaganda.
