SC Asks AIIMS To Set Up Board To Examine Health Condition Of NewsClick Founder

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to set up a medical board to examine the health condition of Prabir Purkayastha, website Newsclick founder and Editor-in- Chief, lodged in Tihar jail under anti-terror law.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta asked the AIIMS director to constitute the board and submit a report to it in two weeks. The board shall also consider the jail records and complete medical history of the petitioner, it said.

The direction of the apex court came after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Purkayastha, told the bench that the report filed by the prison authorities about his client's medical condition was not correct.

Purkayastha's medical report that has come does not include the situation he is confronted with in jail, and "we have no issues with an AIIMS evaluation," Sibal said.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the investigating agency, said that Purkayastha must bear the cost for it and asked why he should get special treatment.

"Because he is your guest and in your custody. Mr Raju, there is a convict in Jodhpur who is being sent to the AIIMS every now and then and no expenses are being paid," Bench told Raju.

Sibal said if the state has some problems with the finances, "we will take care of it".

"If the state has some problems with the finances, we will take care of it. I can personally contribute to the state. No problem," Sibal said.

Purkayastha had approached the apex court, challenging his arrest under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) over alleged Chinese funding to promote anti-national propaganda.

He challenged the Delhi High Court's October 13, 2023, order upholding the trial court order remanding him to police custody. He has since been remanded to judicial custody.

Earlier, NewsClick's human resources department head Amit Chakravarty had earlier withdrawn from the Supreme Court his petition against his arrest.

A Delhi court allowed Chakravarty to turn an approver in the case lodged against the news portal.

Purkayastha and Chakraborty were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on October 3 after it searched 30 locations connected with the online news portal and its journalists in a case filed under the UAPA following allegations that it received money for pro-China propaganda

Purkayastha and Chakravarty subsequently had moved the High Court challenging the arrest as well as the seven-day police custody and sought immediate release as an interim relief.

The High Court had rejected their pleas and said it is of the view that "the fact that serious offences affecting the stability, integrity, sovereignty and national security have been alleged against the petitioner, this Court is not inclined to pass any favorable orders."

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

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

(ANI)