Mr Purkayastha was arrested in October last year.
New Delhi::
The Delhi Police on Saturday filed its first chargesheet, spanning around 8,000 pages, in the UAPA case against NewsClick and its founder Prabir Purkayastha for allegedly pushing Chinese propaganda, using him and the company that owns the portal as accused are mentioned.
The final report was submitted by the Special Cell of Delhi Police before the additional hearings of Justice Hardeep Kaur.
According to Special Public Prosecutors Akhand Pratap Singh and Suraj Rathi, the complaint names Mr Purkayastha and PPK NEWSCLICK Studio Private Limited as suspects.
Court sources say the indictment contains more than 8,000 pages, including attachments. The case was posted for further hearing on April 16.
The court granted a stay to Delhi Police to file the charges, first in December last year and then in February this year. Later, on March 20, it again extended the time needed to submit the final report by ten days after taking note of the prosecutors’ comments.
Section 43 D of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) extends the time required to complete the investigation from 90 days to a maximum of 180 days.
The Delhi Police Special Cell had last year registered a case under Sections 13, 16, 17, 18 and 22 of the UAPA, along with Sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Code of criminal law in this case.
It also arrested NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and Human Resources Head Amit Chakravarty on October 3, 2023.
In January this year, the current court granted Mr. Chakravarty’s request to seek permission from the court to become an approver.
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