‘Attack on Independent Journalism’: Former NewsClick Employees Condemn Centre’s Actions Against Purkayastha

New Delhi: Former employees and associates of NewsClick have said that the Delhi High Court's observation that central investigative agencies acted with malicious intent against the outlet and its editor Prabir Purkayastha lays bare a pattern of systematic state persecution. Issuing a joint statement in the wake of the High Court order quashing the ED proceedings and FIR against NewsClick, they described the episode as a unilateral assault on free and impartial journalism, a gross abuse of power, and a naked violation of due process.

The statement noted that NewsClick had been a consistent voice for people-centric journalism in India, and specifically pointed to its extensive documentation of the 2020–21 farmers' agitation as what provoked the government's wrath — with investigative agencies then unleashed in retaliation.

In February 2021, the ED conducted a 113-hour-long raid on Purkayastha's home and office, seizing documents, laptops, and hard drives — yet found no evidence of any wrongdoing. In October 2023, Delhi Police's Special Cell conducted sweeping raids on the homes of journalists and former employees and sealed the NewsClick office. The CBI, Income Tax Department, and the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) were all deployed against the organisation.

Purkayastha spent 226 days in wrongful detention before a court order secured his release — only for the outlet's bank accounts to remain frozen, making it impossible to pay salaries and forcing over a hundred employees out of their jobs. The statement noted that a climate of fear had taken hold in the media industry, with other organisations afraid even to hire those who had worked with NewsClick.

Former colleagues asked who would answer for the months Purkayastha spent unjustly imprisoned, and who would compensate those who lost their livelihoods. They demanded an immediate end to the suppression of independent media by central agencies, the urgent closure of all remaining cases, and adequate compensation for those who were victimised.