The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared as “invalid” the arrest of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and directed that he be released from custody.

The apex court said the arrest and the subsequent remand of Purkayastha is invalid. The order was issued by a bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta.

The top noted that a copy of the remand application was not provided to Purkayastha or his counsel before passing the remand order on October 4, 2023. This meant that the grounds of the arrest were not supplied to him in writing. It was the case of the Delhi police that requirement to furnish the grounds of arrest in writing was fulfilled by the serving of the remand application.

However, since a charge sheet has been filed in the case by Delhi police, the top court directed Purkayastha’s release on bail on conditions to be fixed by the trial court.

As per the FIR, the news portal received huge funds 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.

The Special Cell of Delhi Police arrested NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakravarty on October 3 last year.