The sealed workplace of NewsClick at Sainik Farm in New Delhi on October 3, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Online information portal NewsClick claimed on Tuesday that its bank accounts have been frozen by the Income Tax Department and mentioned it’ll undertake authorized measures towards this “unjust and cruel” motion.
There was no quick response from the I-T authorities.
“As of the evening of December 18, NewsClick has been unable to make any bank payments due to action by the Income Tax Department. This action, which has virtually frozen our accounts, appears to be a continuation of the administrative-legal siege of the news portal, which began with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids in February 2021, followed by an IT department survey in September 2021 and the October 3, 2023 crackdown by the Delhi Police Special Cell,” the portal mentioned in an announcement on its web site.
It mentioned the organisation didn’t obtain any intimation of the freezing of accounts and the workers found it by likelihood whereas attempting to make routine funds on Monday night.
“As a result of this high-handed action, salaries of all employees, journalists, videographers and administrative and support staff and consultants and contributors cannot be paid, including for the 19 days of December they have already worked,” the portal mentioned.
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NewsClick and its authorized counsel are reviewing the developments, it mentioned, including that authorized appeals towards this “unjust and cruel” measure can be initiated on the earliest.
Prabir Purkayastha, the editor-in-chief and founding father of the portal, and administrative officer Amit Chakraborty have been arrested by the Delhi Police after the October searches. They are in judicial custody at current.
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The Delhi Police moved a court docket right here on Tuesday in search of extra time to finish its probe within the case lodged beneath anti-terror legislation Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) over allegations that the portal acquired cash to unfold pro-China propaganda.
NewsClick gained contemporary highlight a couple of months in the past after a New York Times report claimed that the portal was a part of a world community that acquired funding from American billionaire Neville Roy Singham, who allegedly works carefully with the Chinese authorities’s media machine.