The right to personal liberty is “not a casual right which can be tampered with without serious considerations”, the Delhi High Court said on Wednesday as it granted anticipatory bail to NewsClick founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha in two cases.
The bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna granted protection from arrest to Purkayastha in the two cases from 2020 — a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed in September 2020, and another case registered by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW), alleging violation of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms by NewsClick, in August 2020.
Emphasising that “bail cannot be withheld as a punishment”, Justice Krishna referred to the jurisprudence laid down by the Supreme Court.
“Personal liberty is a precious Constitutional value and cannot be tampered with casually. The objective behind depriving an individual of his personal liberty must be founded on serious considerations. An accused, as a presumed innocent person, is entitled to present his case and establish his innocence,” the order underlined.
While granting anticipatory bail in the EOW case, the court took into account that the probe in the case is still ongoing even as the offence was lodged in 2020.
The HC also considered that Purkayastha had joined the probe whenever he was summoned and that the nature of evidence in the case is documentary in nature, leaving little likelihood of tampering of evidence. It also reasoned that he is 75, and there is little likelihood of him absconding.
In the ED case, the High Court took into account that the probe in the predicate offence registered by the EOW remains pending till date and that there is also nothing on record to suggest that he had been called since 2023 ever to join the investigation.
Story continues below this ad
The HC also granted anticipatory bail to NewsClick editor Pranjal Pandey, booked in the EOW case, on similar grounds as Purkayastha.
On August 26, 2020, an FIR was filed by the EOW under IPC sections 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
As per the allegations in the FIR, foreign direct investment was received by PPK NewsClick Studio Private Limited, which owns the digital portal, from Worldwide Media Holdings LLC, US, during 2018-19, in violation of the FDI norms and other laws of the country. Based on the FIR, the ED initiated its probe in September 2021. Notably Purkayastha or Pandey were named in the EOW FIR. The two had moved the High Court for anticipatory bail after they apprehended arrest following CRPC section 41 (where police may arrest without warrant) notices issued to them in June 2021.
In February 2021, separate ED teams had launched search operations at the portal’s office at Saidulajab in South Delhi
and at the homes of Purkayastha and Pande.
Story continues below this ad
In July 2021, the HC granted Purkayastha interim protection from arrest.
