NewsClick’s Human Resource department head Amit Chakraborty on Wednesday approached the Delhi High Court to grant him bail in the case lodged against the news portal under anti-terror law UAPA over allegations that it received money to spread pro-China propaganda.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma reserved the verdict on the bail plea by Chakraborty, who turned an approver in the case in January, after the police said that it has no objections if relief is granted to him.
Amit Chakraborty’s lawyer said that he has been granted pardon in the case by the trial court and was cooperating in the investigation. Quoting Chakraborty, the lawyer said that he had been in custody since October 3, 2023, and still the matter is at the stage of investigation and no chargesheet has been filed.
Last month, Special Judge Hardeep Kaur had allowed Chakraborty to turn an approver and pardoned him. The HR Head has further claimed that he was in possession of material information about the case which he was willing to disclose to the Delhi Police.
The Delhi Police Special Cell had arrested NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and Amit Chakraborty on October 3, 2023 and both of them are currently in judicial custody. According to the FIR, a large amount of funds to the news portal came from China to disrupt the sovereignty of India and cause disaffection against the country.
Furthermore, it also alleged that Prabir Purkayastha conspired with a group, People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Raids were also carried out at 88 locations in the national capital and seven in other states on October 3, 2023 on suspects named in the FIR and those that surfaced in the analysis of data. Nearly 300 electronic gadgets were also seized from the offices of NewsClick and the residences of the journalists who were examined. After the raids, 46 individuals, including nine female journalists were questioned by the Special Cell.