During the hearing today, the single-headed bench of the Delhi High Court reserved order on a plea moved by NewsClick Human Resources head Amit Chakraborty seeking bail after agreeing to cooperate with authorities in the UAPA case. This case arose from accusations of the news portal receiving funds for promoting pro-China propaganda.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma opted to withhold the decision after the State expressed no opposition to granting bail to Chakraborty.

During the proceeding, Chakraborty counsel argued that the trial court had already granted him pardon in the case and highlighted that he has remained in custody since October of the previous year.

“I am cooperating with the agency. My statement under Section 164 of CrPC has also been recorded in December,” the counsel said.

Prabir Purkayastha, the founder of NewsClick, along with Chakraborty, was arrested in October last year following searches conducted at multiple locations. Purkayastha is currently in judicial custody in connection with the case.

Chakraborty recently withdrew his plea challenging his arrest in the matter from the Supreme Court, subsequent to his decision to become an approver in the case.

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