Prabir Purkayastha, the creator of NewsClick, was freed from Tihar after receiving bail.

The Delhi court orders Mr. Purkayastha to provide bail bonds totaling ₹1 lakh and prohibits him from speaking with witnesses and case approvers, discussing the case’s merits, or leaving the country without the consent of the court.

Latest News Updates : On May 15, Prabir Purkayastha, the founder and editor of NewsClick, was freed from Tihar Jail, just hours after a Delhi court granted him bail and the Supreme Court ruled that his arrest was “invalid.” The jail had been the residence of Mr. Purkayastha since November 2, 2023.
Mr. Purkayastha was ordered to be released by Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur upon the provision of ₹1 lakh in bail bonds, with the stipulation that he refrain from communicating with the case’s witnesses and approvers. In addition, the court ordered him to refrain from discussing the case’s merits or leaving the country without authorization.

The Delhi Police special cell’s attorney had earlier asked the court to impose a requirement that Mr. Purkayastha refrain from contacting anyone whose name is “reflected” in the chargesheet, but he ultimately chose not to pursue the matter. The chargesheet also included the name of Mr. Purkayastha’s partner, Githa Hariharan, as noted by attorney Arshdeep Singh.
On October 3, 2023, the Delhi Police’s special cell detained Mr. Purkayastha on suspicion of accepting payment to distribute pro-China propaganda via NewsClick.

In addition to Sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, the police also charged him under Sections 13 (unlawful activities), 16 (terrorist act), 17 (raising funds for terrorist acts), 18 (conspiracy), and 22C (offenses by companies, trusts) of the UAPA in the first information report (FIR).
The news portal received money from American millionaire Neville Roy Singham, who is allegedly a “active member of the Communist Party of China’s propaganda department,” to distort the map of India by portraying Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as disputed territory. This information was the subject of a report published in The New York Times a few days prior to the filing of the FIR. According to the police, Mr. Purkayastha was given foreign funds valued at ₹115 crore.

As part of its inquiry, the special unit looked through 88 places in Delhi and seven states. Approximately three hundred electronic devices were taken from NewsClick’s premises.