NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha launched from Tihar Jail on Supreme Court docket orders
NewsClick founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha after his launch from the Tihar Jail in New Delhi on Might 15, 2024. Picture: Particular Association
NewsClick founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha was launched from the Tihar Jail in New Delhi on Might 15 evening, hours after the Supreme Court docket declared his arrest “invalid”.
Mr. Purkayastha had been lodged within the jail since November 2, 2023.
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The Delhi Police’s Particular Cell had arrested Mr. Purkayastha on October 3, 2023, below anti-terror legislation Illegal Actions (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly receiving cash to hawk pro-China propaganda by way of tales.
In response to his lawyer Arshdeep Singh Khurana, Mr. Purkayastha got here out of jail quantity 10 of the jail in Rohini at 9 p.m. His relations and mates acquired him outdoors the jail complicated.
Observing that the best to life and private liberty was the “most sacrosanct” basic proper assured below Articles 20, 21 and 22 of the Structure, the Supreme Court docket stated any particular person arrested over allegations of fee of offences below the UAPA or different offences has a basic and a statutory proper to be told concerning the grounds of arrest in writing.
A Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta stated a duplicate of such written grounds of arrest need to be furnished to the arrested particular person as a “matter after all and with out exception on the earliest”.
“From the detailed evaluation made above, there isn’t a hesitation within the thoughts of the court docket to achieve to a conclusion that the copy of the remand utility within the purported train of communication of the grounds of arrest in writing was not supplied to the accused appellant [Purkayastha] or his counsel earlier than passing of the order of remand dated October 4, 2023, which vitiates the arrest and subsequent remand of the appellant,” the Bench stated.
The Supreme Court docket delivered its verdict on Mr. Purkayastha’s plea difficult the Delhi Excessive Court docket’s October 13, 2023 order dismissing his petition towards arrest and subsequent police remand.
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In its verdict, the Bench stated, “Accordingly, the arrest of the appellant adopted by remand order dated October 4, 2023 and so additionally the impugned order handed by the Excessive Court docket of Delhi dated October 13, 2023 are hereby declared to be invalid within the eyes of legislation and are quashed and put aside”.
