Prabir Purkayastha Case: All India Lawyers Union Slams 'Dark Misuse Of ED For Politics'

Prabir Purkayastha Case: All India Lawyers Union Slams 'Dark Misuse Of ED For Politics' And High Handedness Of Ruling "Modi Regime"

New Delhi: All India Lawyers Union (AILU) on Friday, June 12, issued a detailed statement, condemning the dark misuse of central investigating agency, Enforcement Directorate (ED) for political purpose through high handedness of the ruling “Modi Regime” in the ED’s case against NewsClick and its founder Prabir Purkayastha case.

The Delhi High Court had recently quashed the FIR and consequential ED’s money laundering case against NewsClick and Prabir Purkayastha, condemning the probe as a “gross abuse of law and power.” and an “arbitrary attack on free journalism” With the ruling, many are wondering if the central agencies are involved in massive abuse of power. While Purkayastha spent five months in jail, his channel’s bank accounts were frozen, operations were shut down, and around 100 employees suddenly lost their livelihoods.

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Registering strong protest, the AILU statement released by President, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya and General Secretary, P V Surendranath, asserted that the Prabir Purkayastha case again illustrates profuse misuse and abuse of central agency for political purpose. The act serves to strangulate dissent and independent journalism, and regime’s dark actions to pursue its fascistic agenda, it added.

The lawyers union pointed out that the unjust interpretation of certain provisions of the draconian provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Unlawful Activities Act among others facilitate negation of peoples freedom and personal liberty by the “regime by simply foisting cases on innocent people.”

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Though the Delhi High Court held that the entire action against Prabir Purkayastha was only an unjust and illegal act by the ED to strangulate independent journalism, the lawyers association pointed out, the regime could unfortunately put him behind the bars for quite a long time despite Article 21 & 22 of the Constitution of India.

“This poses a great constitutional question; whether our judicial system and the constitution are capable of making the regime and officers concerned accountable for this sort of misuse and abuse of legal provisions and negation of peoples’ precious freedom and personal liberty proclaimed under the constitution,” the statement added, asking who will compensate the innocent victim when even judiciary fails?