15/06/2026
‘People may find greater courage to stand up to the government after this verdict’: NewsClick editor Prabir Purkayastha
After the Delhi high court’s order quashing an FIR and an Enforcement Directorate (ED) case against editor Prabir Purkayastha was made public on June 10, the senior journalist spoke to Alt News about about the verdict, the human cost of the proceedings, press freedom, ’s role and what the judgment means for the future of independent journalism in India.
The money-laundering case against Purkayastha and NewsClick was registered in 2020 on the charges that the organization received a total of Rs 38 crore in foreign funding linked to -based entities with the aim of propagating pro-China content in India’s media ecosystem. This included Rs 9.59 crore received from US-based Worldwide Media Holdings LLC in April 2018 and an additional Rs 28 crore between 2018 and 2022. In 2023, Delhi Police invoked provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), alleging that the funding trail was linked to Neville Roy Singham, an Indian-origin businessman alleged to have links with the Chinese Communist Party.
The editor and NewsClick’s HR head Amit Chakravarty were arrested in October 2023. In October 2023, Delhi Police arrested Purkayastha under allegations relating to the same funding trail. He remained in custody until May 2024, when the Supreme Court ordered his release on bail, holding that the procedure followed during his arrest and remand was illegal.
Now, in a scathing judgment, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna has observed that the continuation of the ED case was “nothing but a gross abuse of the process of law…” She also noted that the proceedings were “not only mala fide, but also an arbitrary attack and abuse of powers on the free and impartial journalism of the Petitioners.”
Read the full interview by Anindya Hazra on the Alt News website. Link in comment.
