Supreme Court quashes arrest and remand of Newsclick Editor under UAPA
Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the arrest and remand of Prabir Purkayastha, the chief editor of online news portal NewsClick, pertaining to a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). A bench headed by justice BR Gavai ordered the release subject to Purkayastha furnishing surety and bail bond.
The bench ruled that «there is no hesitation in the mind of the court to reach to a conclusion that the copy of the remand application in the purported exercise of communication of the grounds of arrest in writing was not provided to the accused appellant or his counsel before passing of the order of remand dated October 4, 2023, which vitiates the arrest and subsequent remand of the appellant».
The top court reiterated the distinction between «reasons for arrest» and «grounds of arrest». The judgment reads «The 'reasons for arrest' as indicated in the arrest memo are purely formal parameters, viz., to prevent the accused person from committing any further offence; for proper investigation of the offence; to prevent the accused person from causing the evidence of the offence to disappear or tampering with such evidence in any manner; to prevent the arrested person for making inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to the investigating officer.»
Elaborating, the bench added «these reasons would commonly apply to any person arrested on charge of a crime whereas the 'grounds of arrest'
