India top court bails NewsClick editor arrested in Chinese funding case

Prabir Purkayastha was arrested last year after a New York Times report alleged his outlet was financially backed by a network pushing Chinese propaganda.

India’s Supreme Court says the arrest of NewsClick website’s founder and editor Prabir Purkayastha last year under a stringent antiterrorism law was illegal and has ordered his release on bail.

Purkayastha was arrested in October, nearly two months after a New York Times report alleged his English-language news website had been financially supported by a network pushing Chinese propaganda.

The 75-year-old journalist was charged with receiving foreign money and criminal conspiracy, and arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a stringent antiterrorism law which makes it virtually impossible to get bail.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that Purkayastha’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate, India’s financial crimes agency, was illegal since it failed to communicate the grounds for detention in writing to him.

Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta declared his arrest “invalid in the eyes of law” and said he should be released, subject to the furnishing of bail bonds. The top court said its ruling on Purkayastha’s confinement was not a statement on the merits of the ongoing case against him.

“A good day for independent media!” said NewsClick in a post on X, welcoming Purkayastha’s release.

A good day for independent media!#PrabirPurkayastha #NewsClick pic.twitter.com/e3h5AoMtDP

— NewsClick (@newsclickin) May 15, 2024

NewsClick, with an independent and critical focus on India’s “progressive movements”, was founded in 2009 by Purkayastha, who was previously arrested in 1975 during a state of emergency imposed by the then-Prime Minister Indira