A file image of Prabir Purkayastha.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The story so far: The Delhi High Court has quashed the first information report (FIR) registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police and the consequent money laundering proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against news portal NewsClick and its editor-in-chief, Prabir Purkayastha, over allegations of foreign funding. Holding the action to be a “mala fide and arbitrary” exercise of power, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna said it amounted to an abuse of the legal process and posed a threat to free and independent journalism.
The proceedings stemmed from two cases registered in 2020 by the EOW of the Delhi Police and the ED. The EOW case originated from a letter dated June 26, 2020, written by Sobhan Singh, who was an informant and not an aggrieved party, to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, alleging that PPK NewsClick Studios Pvt. Ltd. had misappropriated funds and violated foreign direct investment (FDI) norms. The communication was subsequently forwarded by Vijay Kaushik, Under Secretary in the Ministry, following which the EOW registered an FIR.
Published – June 24, 2026 12:05 pm IST
