The Press Club of India (PCI) on Saturday (June 13, 2026) welcomed the Delhi High Court order quashing the first information report (FIR) and the subsequent Enforcement Directorate’s case against the news portal NewsClick and its founding editor Prabir Purkayastha.

The PCI said the Delhi High Court, on May 29, observed that the cases filed against NewsClick and Mr. Purkayastha were “a gross abuse of the process of law and is hereby, quashed”. The court further observed that “not only are the present proceedings mala fide, but also an arbitrary attack and abuse of power on the free and impartial journalism of the petitioners”.

“The observations made in the Delhi High Court’s order vindicate what a large section of the media fraternity believed right from the time when ED raids were carried out at multiple locations in October 2023: that a witch-hunt had been launched against NewsClick and Mr. Purkayastha for practising journalism that was inconvenient to the government,” said the PCI statement.

“The sole purpose of the enforcement action was to induce a chilling effect on the functioning of the free press and hold it up as an example of consequences foretold for anyone who dares to question the executive or the government,” it said.

‘Stop persecution’

Stating that the court order rightly put an end to one of the most perverse examples of vindictiveness against press freedom, the PCI said the actions of Delhi Police and the ED resulted in journalists working at NewsClick losing their jobs and valuable equipment, causing them acute financial distress.

The PCI urged the government to refrain from “such targeted persecution of journalists and the free press in the future”. “...it is important for the media fraternity to call upon the Press Council of India to initiate proceedings against those at whose behest the prosecution of NewsClick, Mr. Purkayastha, and journalists working at the portal was carried out, and ensure that those who suffered financial losses due to deprivation of livelihood and seizure of equipment be suitably compensated,” the PCI said.