Delhi High Court Grants Anticipatory Bail to NewsClick’s Prabir Purkayastha in ED, EOW Foreign Funding Cases

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday, July 23, granted anticipatory bail to Prabir Purkayastha, editor-in-chief and founder of News, in cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) over allegations of foreign funding.  

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna delivered the verdict and disposed of the pleas filed by Purkayastha in 2021. The court also granted anticipatory bail to News Director Pranjal Pandey in the EOW case.

A detailed judgment is awaited. Purkayastha had been under interim protection from arrest since June 2021, with the orders extended from time to time.

In February 2021, the ED had conducted searches at News’s office and at the residences of its editors in connection with a money laundering case. 

The agency began its investigation after the EOW FIR, which alleged that PPK News Studio Pvt Ltd had received foreign direct investment by overvaluing its shares to bypass the FDI cap.

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