NewsClick moves Supreme Court seeking guidelines on police powers for search and seizure

The news portal has alleged that no procedural norms are being followed during the process.

A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta agreed to hear the plea and issued notice to the Centre seeking a reply.

Initially, Justice BR Gavai said, “We do not appreciate coming directly to this court. To this senior advocate, Kapil Sibal said, but such pleas have been entertained before and are pending before this court.

"Government should come out with guidelines, How can things be seized in this fashion," he said.

In October 2023, the Special Cell of Delhi Police arrested the news portal's human resources department head Amit Chakravarty, and founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) (UAPA) Act, 1967 over allegations that the news portal received money to spread pro-China propaganda.

According to the FIR, a large amount of funds came to the news portal 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 poll.

On October 3, 2023 Raids were conducted at 88 locations in Delhi and other states on the suspects named in the FIR. Around 300 electronic gadgets were also seized from the offices of NewsClick and the residences of their journalists.

The Supreme Court while issuing notice to the Centre tagged the plea of NewsClick with a batch of applications on a similar issue of the need for safeguards for the search and seizure of electronic devices of the accused.