A collective of 16 media organisations and journalists including Digipub News India Federation, Mumbai Press Club, Press Club of India, Network of women in India among others has written a letter to D.Y. Chandrachud, Chief Justice of India, in the aftermath of the Delhi police raids and seizure of devices of those associated with the digital news outlet, NewsClick.
According to the letter, "Sweeping seizures and interrogations surely cannot be considered acceptable in any democratic country, let alone one that has begun advertising itself as the ‘mother of democracy’."
On Tuesday morning, the searches were held across at least 35 locations in New Delhi and Mumbai. Among those raided were NewsClick editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha, journalists Abhisar Sharma, Bhasha Singh Urmilesh and others. As of now, Delhi Police has arrested Prabir Purkayastha, founder and Editor-in-Chief of NewsClick and its Human Resources head Amit Chakraborty in an alleged terror case.
What have they said in the letter?
Referring to what the CJI had said about press freedom in India, the letter says that currently a large number of journalists in India find themselves working "under the threat of reprisal". The CJI had earlier remarked that India's freedom will be safe as long as journalists can speak truth to power "without being chilled by the threat of reprisal".
The media collective finds the invocation of UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act), which has led to the arrest of two people in this case, especially "chilling". "Journalism cannot be prosecuted as terrorism. Enough instances in history abound to tell us where that goes," the letter reads.
The media organisations write that whenever such an investigation takes place, there is an inherent malice in the process that must be checked. It says that the police must state the grounds before questioning.
Alluding to the NewClick case, it said, "the vague assertions about the investigation of some unspecified offence have become the grounds for questioning journalists about their coverage of, inter alia, the farmers’ movement, the government’s handling of the Covid pandemic and the protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act".
The letter said that the higher judiciary should intervene to put an end to the increasingly repressive use of investigating agencies against the media. The letter suggests taking certain steps by the higher authorities in this regard. These include-
- The framing of norms to discourage the seizure of journalists’ phones and laptops on a whim.
- Developing clear rules for questioning journalists and confiscating their materials to prevent unjustified investigations unrelated to actual offenses.
- Finding ways to hold state agencies and individual officers accountable when they exceed legal boundaries or provide unclear and open-ended investigations against journalists for their journalistic activities.
Why is NewsClick under the radar?
In August, the Delhi Police registered a UAPA and conspiracy case against NewsClick and its editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha days after the New York Times alleged that the news portal received funding from American tech mogul Neville Roy Singham for pushing Chinese propaganda.
According to the news report, Singham requested a series of articles highlighting China's efforts to limit the Covid-19 outbreak in emails sent to NewsClick. NewsClick, however, had denied the claim, saying the allegations “by certain political actors and sections of the media are unfounded and without basis in fact or law”.
The portal was already being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate on money laundering charges. In 2021, the Delhi high court, however, had barred the federal agency from taking any coercive action against the news outlet and its editor-in-chief.
In the light of the recent developments, NewsClick clarified in a statement that it does not propagate Chinese propaganda on its website. It said, "All funding received by Newsclick has been through the appropriate banking channels and have been reported to the relevant authorities as required by law, as substantiated by the Reserve Bank of India in proceedings before the High Court of Delhi."
The statement read, "We have full faith in the Courts and the judicial process. We will fight for our journalistic freedom and our lives in accordance with the Constitution of India."