Justice Subramonium Prasad Recuses From Hearing NewsClick & Editor In Chief's Plea In Money Laundering Case

Justice Subramonium Prasad of the Delhi High Court on Monday recused from hearing NewsClick and it's Editor In Chief Prabir Purkayastha's plea seeking quashing of the FIR in relation to a money laundering case registered against it by the Enforcement Directorate.

Additionally, the bench was hearing another plea seeking anticipatory bail by Prabir Purkayastha.

While recusing from the matter, the Court listed the matter for further hearing on June 30 subject to the order of the Chief Justice for listing it before another bench.

The development came after a single judge bench comprising of Justice Jasmeet Singh had earlier this month granted interim protection to NewsClick Editor in Chief Prabir Purkayastha and PPK Newsclick Studio Private Limited, which owns the news portal till July 5 in connection with the money laundering case registered against it by the Enforcement Directorate.

The Court had directed the Enforcement Directorate to not take any coercive action against the news portal.

The Court had also sought response from the Enforcement Directorate in a plea seeking copy of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) registered by it against the news portal NewsClick and granted two weeks time to the ED to file it's reply.

The Court had also sought response of Delhi Police in another plea filed seeking quashing of the case registered by the Economic Offence Wing against the news portal last year.

Reportedly, the Enforcement Directorate had raided the premises of news portal NewsClick and residences of its editors in February this year in connection with money laundering case thereby conducted search and seizure.

The allegations against the petitioner company PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt Ltd is that it had allegedly received foreign direct investment by overvaluing the share to avoid the cap of FDI requirement.

Taking cognizance of the aforesaid FIR, Enforcement Directorate had initiated probe and conducted search operations in connection with the case.