Arrested NewsClick's HR head Amit Chakravarty seeks to turn approver in Chinese funding case

Chakravarty moved the application before Special Judge Hardeep Kaur last week, seeking pardon in the case and claiming he had material information that he was willing to disclose to the Delhi Police.

New Delhi: In a significant development, NewsClick's human resources department head Amit Chakravarty has filed a plea in a Delhi court for turning an approver in the case lodged under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) over allegations the news portal received money to spread pro-China propaganda.

Chakravarty filed the application before Special Judge Hardeep Kaur last week, seeking pardon in the case while claiming he had material information that he was willing to disclose to the Delhi Police, which is investigating the matter.

The judge has posted the matter before a magisterial court for recording Chakravarty’s statement.

Police sources, however, said the agency will take a decision whether to support Chakravarty's application before the court only after going through his statement.

The Special Cell of Delhi Police had arrested Chakravarty and news portal's founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha on October 3.

They are currently in judicial custody.

The FIR lodged on August 17, 2023, had named Purkayastha and activist Gautam Navalakha and Chinese resident Neville Roy Singham, among others.

According to the FIR, a large amount of funds to the news portal came from China to 'disrupt the sovereignty of India' and cause disaffection against the country.

It also alleged Purkayastha conspired with a group — People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) — to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

It was also alleged in the FIR that attempts were made to show Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as 'not parts of India', discrediting the Indian government’s fight against Covid, funding the farmers’ agitation, and 'putting up a spirited defence of legal cases' against Chinese telecom companies such as Xiaomi and Vivo.

Raids were conducted at 88 locations in Delhi and seven in other states on October 3, 2023 on the suspects named in the FIR and those that surfaced in the analysis of data.

Around 300 electronic gadgets were also seized from the offices of NewsClick and the residences of the journalists who were examined.

After the raids, 46 individuals, including nine female journalists, were questioned by the Special Cell.