The Delhi High Court upheld the remand and arrest of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakravarty, ruling that the remand decision was legally sustainable and that there was no "procedural infirmity" or breach of any laws or constitutional principles in the arrests. Dismissing the petitions of Purkayastha and Chakravarty, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said there was no mandate to furnish written grounds of arrest under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Both of them had contested their arrest and detention, claiming that they were not informed in writing of the reason for their arrest at the time of the arrest or even later.
Justice Gedela, however, held that the recent Supreme Court ruling on furnishing written grounds of arrest to accused booked under PMLA did not “squarely apply” in a case lodged under UAPA. The anti-terror law only spoke of the accused being “informed” about the reasons for arrest within 24 hours of being apprehended, he added.
The judge, however, observed that it would be “advisable” for police to henceforth provide the grounds of arrest in writing to an accused after redacting “sensitive material”. “…The offences which are alleged, fall within the ambit of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and directly impact the stability, integrity and sovereignty of the country and are of utmost importance since they would affect the national security,” the HC noted in its order.
On the grounds that it was issued without their solicitors' presence, the petitioners had also challenged the ensuing remand order, which had placed them in seven days of police custody. Additionally, it was claimed that the trial court's remand order contained a "obvious discrepancy."