Supreme Court directs AIIMS to examine NewsClick founder's health

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 27 February, directed AIIMS-New Delhi to set up a medical board to examine the health condition of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha, currently lodged in Tihar Jail in a case registered against him under the anti-terror law designated the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

A bench of justices B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta asked the director of AIIMS to constitute a board and submit its report in two weeks.

'Taking into consideration all this, it will be appropriate that the medical condition is examined by a board appointed by the AIIMS director. The board shall also consider the jail records and complete medical history of petitioner," it said.

The direction came after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Purkayastha, submitted that the report filed by the prison authorities about his client's medical condition was not correct.

The Delhi High Court had on 13 October dismissed the pleas filed by Purkayastha and the news portal's human resources department head Amit Chakravarty against their arrest and subsequent police remand in the case.

Both were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on 3 October.

According to the FIR lodged in the case, huge funds came to the news portal allegedly from China to 'disrupt the sovereignty of India' and cause disaffection against the country.

It also alleged that Purkayastha conspired with a group — the People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) — to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.