Online portal NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha, booked under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), on November 6 told the Supreme Court that investigating authorities should at least supply him with the grounds of his arrest.
Appearing before a Bench headed by Justice BR Gavai, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for Mr. Purkayastha, said his plea fell squarely within the ambit of a recent Supreme Court judgment in the Pankaj Bansal case which held that the Enforcement Directorate should provide an accused a written copy of the grounds of his or her arrest.
Mr. Purkayastha and NewsClick employee Amir Chakraborty had appealed to the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court had rejected their contentions about “procedural infirmity” and violation of constitutional provisions in relation to the arrest and the remand order.
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The High Court had concluded that they were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and their actions “directly impact the stability, integrity and sovereignty of the country”.
The High Court had further said the Pankaj Bansal judgment concerned cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and would not apply to UAPA cases, like the present one.
Justice Gavai agreed to hear the petition immediately after the Diwali vacations. Mr. Sibal also sought an interim bail for Mr. Purkayastha on medical grounds, saying he was in seventies.
“We will consider that on the same day itself,” Justice Gavai assured.
The court had issued notice in the case on October 19, on that day saying the case would be heard after the Dussehra vacations.
Mr. Purkayastha and Mr. Chakraborty were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on October 3 pursuant to an FIR registered on August 17. The Delhi Police, in the FIR, have named Mr. Purkayastha, activist Gautam Navlakha, who is under house arrest in another terror case, and U.S.-based businessman Neville Roy Singham.
Multiple journalists’ collectives from across the country had a few days ago written to Chief Justice Chandrachud to take cognisance and check the “inherent malice” behind the raids at the homes of 46 journalists, editors, writers and professionals connected to NewsClick and seizure of their electronic devices.
The collectives said that “journalism cannot be prosecuted as terrorism”. The letter said the invocation of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was “especially chilling”.
