CPI(M) General Secretary Hails NewsClick Verdict, Demands Withdrawal of Remaining Absurd Cases

New Delhi: CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby on Thursday warmly welcomed the Delhi High Court's verdict quashing the FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police and the subsequent ED case against NewsClick and its editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha, calling the judgment an exposure of "blatant lies concocted by the Union Government in collusion with central agencies."

Reacting to the ruling, Baby highlighted the court's strong language — that the proceedings were "mala fide," amounted to "an arbitrary attack" without "a whisper of any incriminating allegation," and constituted "a gross abuse of the process of law."

The CPI(M) leader said the judgment laid bare the Union Government's targeting of independent journalism that had "unapologetically taken a pro-people stand," and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the remaining UAPA case and all other proceedings against NewsClick and Purkayastha. He also called for compensation to the outlet and its journalists for the injustice inflicted upon them.

He congratulated Purkayastha and the journalists and workers of NewsClick, and expressed hope that their brand of journalism would continue to thrive.