New Delhi, July 23: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to Prabir Purkayastha, founder and Editor-in-Chief of NewsClick, providing him protection from arrest in two separate probes—one by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over alleged money laundering and another by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) concerning foreign funding violations.
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna allowed Purkayastha’s pleas for relief in both cases.
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Alongside him, the court granted anticipatory bail to Pranjal Pandey in the EOW investigation into unlawful foreign funding.
Both individuals had earlier received interim protection from arrest in 2021 while inquiries were ongoing.
According to the FIR, NewsClick’s parent entity, PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt Ltd, allegedly secured ₹9.59 crore as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from US-based Worldwide Media Holdings LLC during 2018–19, purportedly breaching legal norms.
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The ED’s case, which stems from the EOW’s FIR, had prompted raids on NewsClick’s offices and Purkayastha’s residence in February 2021 under money laundering allegations.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Dayan Krishnan, and Siddharth Agarwal represented Purkayastha in the matter.
