The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to NewsClick and its Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenged a Delhi High Court judgment that had quashed a money laundering case linked to alleged violations of foreign direct investment (FDI) rules. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, directed NewsClick and Purkayastha to file their responses within four weeks. The matter came up during proceedings in which the ED sought time, stating that Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the agency, was unavailable.

During the hearing, the ED informed the Supreme Court that the Delhi Police was also preparing to challenge the High Court’s decision to quash the FIR related to the alleged predicate offence. The agency argued that the High Court had set aside the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) without fully examining the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED further contended that there had been an unusual delay of nearly five months in pronouncing the High Court’s judgment. Justice Joymalya Bagchi also observed during the hearing that the appeal, in its present form, did not appear to inspire confidence.

The case stems from a 2020 FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police, which alleged that PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt. Ltd., the parent company of NewsClick, received Rs 9.59 crore in foreign direct investment from Worldwide Media Holdings LLC, USA, during the 2018-19 financial year in violation of FDI regulations. On May 29, the Delhi High Court ruled that the continuation of the FIR amounted to a gross abuse of the legal process and held that once the predicate FIR was quashed, the ED’s money laundering case could not continue. The Supreme Court will now examine the ED’s appeal after receiving responses from the respondents.