New Delhi, Aug 11 The Delhi High Court on Friday issued a notice in response to an Enforcement Directorate (ED) application that seeks to overturn the orders that prevented any forceful actions against NewsClick and the online media portal's Founder and Editor-In-Chief, Prabir Purkayastha in an alleged money laundering case.
This application was submitted as part of an ongoing case from 2021 where NewsClick and Purkayastha sought a copy of the ECIR registered by the financial probe agency in September 2020.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee has granted two weeks for NewsClick and Purkayastha to respond to the application.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on September 6.
The ED wants to revoke two orders issued by another bench on June 20 and 21, 2021.
During the hearing, ED counsel Zoheh Hossain, while requesting an expedited hearing, claimed that this involves a "criminal conspiracy of paid news" where Rs 38 crore was received in violation of laws.
However, NewsClick's legal representative argued that the issue, which has remained unresolved for the past two years, does not demand immediate attention.
The legal representative also pointed out that the ED has consistently requested delays during earlier hearings.
The court documented the ED's stance that it has discovered supplementary evidence that "exposes" NewsClick's involvement in money laundering and other scheduled offenses.
After issuing a notice, the court initially believed that the probe agency's request and the arguments presented by the investigative agency hold validity, and thus, the matter needs careful consideration.
The ED in its application said that additional material has been revealed during further probe in the matter which discloses the commission of the offence of money laundering as, well as commission of scheduled offence which has been intimated to the predicate agency as well, by way of an appropriate communication u/s 66(2) of the PMLA as well.
On June 21, 2021, the High Court had instructed the ED to refrain from taking any forceful measures against NewsClick and Purkayastha pertaining to the money laundering case.
This temporary safeguard was subsequently prolonged on July 29, 2021.
The ED launched its investigation based on a Delhi Police FIR, conducting searches at the NewsClick premises and various other locations connected to the overseas funds received.
According to the FIR, the petitioner company, PPK Newsclick Studio Private Limited, acquired foreign direct investment (FDI) amounting to Rs 9.59 crore from Worldwide Media Holdings LLC USA during the fiscal year 2018-19.
The accusation states that this investment was made by significantly inflating the petitioner company's shares to evade the 26 per cent FDI ceiling imposed on digital news websites.
Furthermore, it is alleged that over 45 per cent of this investment was diverted or misappropriated to cover salary/consultancy expenses, rent, and other outlays.
As a result, the company stands accused of violating FDI and other regulations within the country, thereby causing financial harm to the government's treasury
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