NEW DELHI: Arrested NewsClick founder, Prabir Purkayastha, on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that his medical condition is not good, to which the Supreme Court directed the Delhi Police to submit his medical report.The accused, Purkayastha, 74, is currently lodged in Tihar jail, in a case registered against him under the anti-terror law UAPA (Unlawful Activities and Prevention Act).Purkayastha’s senior lawyer, Kapil Sibal, today told the Apex Court two-judge bench, headed by Justice B R Gavai and also comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta, that his client’s medical condition is not good and the court should sought for a report from the jail authorities and pass appropriate directions and or orders into it.After hearing Purkayastha’s plea, the bench asked the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju to submit the report of the jail’s medical officer within a week.”The only thing we want right now is that this court should call for medical report from the (Tihar) jail superintendent. The man is 74-year-old and is in great difficulty,” Sibal pleaded to the Apex Court.Opposing Sibal’s submissions for a report from the jail’s medical officer, the ASG Raju said he would get an appropriate report from AIIMS on the medical condition of Purkayastha.At the end of the hearing, the apex court directed the ASG to submit a report within a week and fixed the matter for further hearing till February 27.Purkayastha and his associate, Amit Chakraborty, HR head of NewsClick, were arrested, following the allegations that NewsClick had allegedly received money for pro-China propaganda. The Special Cell of the Delhi Police on October 3, arrested them, after a thorough search of around 30 locations connected with the online news portal and its journalists in a case filed under the UAPA.Last month, a Delhi court had allowed Chakravarty to turn an approver in the case lodged against the news portal under UAPA over allegations that it received money to spread pro-China propaganda.The Delhi High Court had on October 13 dismissed their — Purkayastha and Chakraborty — pleas against arrest and subsequent police remand in the case. Both were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on October 3.According to the FIR (First Information Report) huge funds to the news portal allegedly came from China to ‘disrupt the sovereignty of India’ and illegally cause disaffection against the country.
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