The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday for the release of Prabir Purkayastha, the founder and editor-in-chief of NewsClick, who had been detained by Delhi Police under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on suspicion of receiving funds to promote pro-China content.
The bench of Justice B.R. Gavai held that the arrest and further detention of Purkayastha were illegal, as the police failed to furnish a written copy of the grounds of arrest, even before the remand order was passed on 4 October 2023. The bench held that this infirmity rendered the entire arrest illegal and would suffice to set at liberty the appellant.
The court, comprising Justice Gavai and also Justice Sandeep Mehta, said it was inclined to release Purkayastha without imposing conditions of furnishing security bonds, considering the charge sheet has been filed. However, it ordered his release on furnishing satisfactory bonds to the trial court.
Significantly, the apex court clarified that its observations shall not be construed as comments on the merits of the case.
Last year, Justice Gavai's bench had issued a notice to Delhi Police on Purkayastha's special leave petition challenging the Delhi High Court's order upholding the police remand.
Purkayastha was arrested on October 3, 2023, together with Human Resources head Amit Chakraborty, after raids were carried out at the NewsClick office and the residences of its editors and reporters.
The defense had pointed out that the arrests violated the Supreme Court judgment in the case of Pankaj Bansal, in which the police were directed to furnish written reasons of arrest at the time of arrest.
