The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a plea for urgent hearing of the special leave petition (SLP) filed by NewsClick editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakraborty challenging their arrests and police remand for alleged offences under anti-terror law UAPA.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Purkayastha and Chakraborty, who sought to make an “out-of-turn” special mentioning
of the matter for urgent hearing.

“I am sorry My Lordships, I am making an out-of-turn mentioning. This is the NewsClick matter. The person arrested is a journalist and 70-year-old and I am seeking early listing of the matter,” Sibal told the bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, during the morning mentioning time.

The bench asked Sibal to circulate the relevant papers to the registry so that the request could be looked into. However, Sibal said the necessary formalities had already been completed.

CJI Chandrachud said he would look into the issue.

The matter is likely to be listed for hearing on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The duo has filed the SLP challenging the concurrent orders passed by a single bench of the Delhi High Court on October 13 and earlier by a trial court refusing to quash their arrest and their plea challenging their police and judicial remand.

NewsClick HR Head Amit Chakravarty being brought to the court. PTI photo

On October 13, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela of the Delhi High Court refused to interfere with the arrest of Purkayastha and Chakraborty on the ground that “the offences which are alleged, fall within the ambit of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and directly impact the stability, integrity and sovereignty of the country and are of utmost importance since they would affect the national security”.

Purkayastha and Chakraborty were arrested on October 3 after Delhi police’s special cell raided NewsClick’s office and several journalists associated with it for alleged anti-national activities.