Court allows NewsClick HR head to turn approver in UAPA case Prabir Purkayastha
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Newsclick HR chief Amit Chakraborty
New Delhi: In the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case against news portal NewsClick, its human resource head Amit Chakraborty was allowed by a Delhi court to turn approver, The Indian Express (TIE) reported.
Amit Chakraborty was also granted pardon by the Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur of Patiala House Courts in the case.
Last month, Chakraborty had moved an application pleading permission to turn approver in the case. In the plea, he expressed his willingness to disclose information to the Delhi police.
In the case against NewsClick, it has been accused of actions that intentionally disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, as well as incite “disaffection” against the country.
It was in August that the Delhi Police Special Cell registered an FIR against the portal under sections of the UAPA and the Indian Penal Code, naming founder-editor Prabir Purkayastha and Chakraborty. In October, both were arrested.
The allegations against the duo include attempts to show Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as not parts of India, discrediting the government’s fight against Covid, funding the farmers' agitation and “putting up a spirited defence of legal cases” against Chinese telecom companies such as Xiaomi and Vivo, TIE reports.
The arrests were made after day-long searches at 50 locations that are related to NewsClick. Police claimed that 46 suspects were questioned and digital devices were seized.
The Delhi Police Special Cell claimed that it has received “secret inputs” that “foreign funds in crores have been infused illegally into India by Indian and foreign entities inimical to India in pursuance of conspiracy with the intention to disrupt sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, to cause disaffection against India and to threaten the unity, integrity, security of India”, TIE quoted.