NewsClick case: Court gives Delhi police 10 more days to complete investigation

The Patiala House Court yesterday gave the Delhi police 10 more days to complete its investigation and file its chargesheet in the NewsClick case. 

Additional sessions judge Hardeep Kaur granted the extension after “going through the case diary and hearing the submissions”, Hindustan Times reported. The special public prosecutors in the case said investigators needed more time to “analyse new documents found during the investigation into the case on March 15”.

NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha has been in Tihar jail since October 2023. His bail plea came up for hearing at the Supreme Court yesterday, weeks after the SC directed AIIMS to constitute an independent board to examine him. Purkayastha’s lawyer Kapil Sibal told the court that AIIMS had submitted its report. The matter will be taken up after the court’s Holi vacation.

Purkayastha and NewsClick HR head Amit Chakraborty were charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for purportedly getting funding to spread pro-China propaganda. NewsClick has repeatedly denied the charges against it.

In February, the court pulled up the Delhi police for its “slow” investigation, saying it had “arrested only two people in 150 days in such a large conspiracy”. At the time, it granted the police 20 days to file the chargesheet.

The action against NewsClick followed a New York Times report in August 2023 that claimed the website was among Chinese propaganda outlets funded by American tech mogul Neville Roy Singham. In October, the Delhi police searched the homes of multiple journalists connected to NewsClick in connection with a UAPA case. Both Purkayastha and Chakraborty were arrested. The website’s bank accounts were frozen in December. In January, Chakraborty turned approver in the case.

The website’s office was also raid by the Enforcement Directorate in February 2021 and “surveyed” by the Income Tax department in September 2021.

Newslaundry has reported on the police and agency action against NewsClick from the start. Read our stories here.

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