Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Malign motive: On the arrest and remand of NewsClick founder

Malign motive: On the arrest and remand of NewsClick founder

Supreme Court order quashing (रद्द करना, खारिज करना) arrest lays bare (उजागर करना, बेनकाब करना) police design (योजना) to circumvent due process (उचित प्रक्रिया)

The Supreme Court of India’s order invalidating the arrest and remand of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha is much more than a technical outcome (परिणाम, नतीजा) based on the failure of the Delhi police to furnish the grounds (आधार, कारण) for his arrest in writing (लिखित रूप में). It is also an indictment (अभियोग) of the clandestine (गुप्त) manner in which the police sought to obtain his custody. As if invoking (आह्वान करना) the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (an Indian law aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India. Its main objective was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India) against the web portal was not malign (दुष्टतापूर्ण) enough — the case seems fictional (काल्पनिक) in its entirety (पूरी तरह से), and establishes (स्थापित करना) no overt (clear, obvious, noticeable, visible, glaring, blatant) act that can even be described as unlawful, much less a terrorist act — the police seemed to have resorted to (have recourse to, fall back on, turn to, use, utilize, adopt, employ) what the Court called a “blatant attempt to circumvent (avoid, evade, get past, bypass, sidestep, dodge, get round, find a way round) the due process of law”. The Court did not go into (look into, investigate, inquire into, examine) the merits (an essential inherent quality (rights and wrongs only) while evaluating a case (not by external aspects)) of the case at this stage, but said enough to warrant (justify, validate, sanction, permit, authorize) an adverse (dangerous, harmful, detrimental, unhealthy; unfavourable, disadvantageous, bad) inference (conclusion, reasoning, assumption, supposition, reckoning, guesswork, interpretation) about the absence of bona fides (legitimate, legal, genuine, real, authentic (grounds/reasons)). Mr. Purkayastha was produced before a remand (this term is used to refer to the sending back of the accused or prisoner to the custody of a competent authority; pre-trial detention, preventive detention, or provisional detention) judge before dawn (early morning) and his police custody obtained at 6 a.m., even though the police had the entire day to comply with (abide by, stick to, hold to, adhere to, act in accordance with, conform to) the statutory (legal, lawful, legitimate, rightful, constitutional) requirement of producing him before a court within 24 hours. The police kept his lawyer in the dark about the early morning proceedings (inquiry, hearing, trial, legal action, legal investigation), and instead had a ‘remand advocate’ readily (promptly, quickly; easily) present during the proceedings. The idea was “to confine (restrict, lock in/up, imprison, incarcerate) the accused to police custody without informing him the grounds on which he has been arrested; deprive the accused of the opportunity to avail (use, make use of, utilize, resort to, turn to) the services of the legal practitioner of his choice so as to (in order to, with the aim of; with the purpose of) oppose the prayer (an earnest hope/wish) for police custody (imprisonment, incarceration, arrest, restraint, confinement, internment, detention, captivity) remand, seek (request, ask for, demand) bail (conditional, temporary release of an arrested/imprisoned person when a specified amount of security is deposited or pledged (as cash or property) to ensure his/her appearance in court when required) and also to mislead (deceive, lie to, cheat, defraud, misguide, misinform, misdirect) the court”.

The judgment is also notable (important, significant, striking, glaring, obvious; impressive, remarkable) for extending, to the UAPA, the principle laid down in Pankaj Bansal (2023) that those arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act should be given the grounds of their arrest in writing. In fact (actually, in actuality, really, in reality, indeed), interpreting (explain, elucidate, describe, spell out, clarify, make clear) the relevant constitutional provisions (clause, condition, stipulation, requirement, term), the Court says this may be required as a matter of course (as a (general) rule; as per usual/normal; something that is expected) and without any exception for the arrest of any person under the UAPA or any other offences (crime, wrongdoing, illegal act, misdeed; breach, violation of the law). The police recently filed a charge sheet (an official document on which a police officer enters details of the charge against a person) in this case, which makes the outlandish (strange, peculiar, odd, weird, unusual, abnormal, atypical, unconventional, bizarre) claim (allegation) that Mr. Purkayastha was funded by the Chinese government and that he and American millionaire Neville Roy Singham were involved in an alleged (supposed, claimed, professed, reported, ostensible) conspiracy (unlawful plan, intrigue, collaboration/deception) to replace Indian democracy with a party-state (A country (state) in which power is held by a single political party) system as in China. It speaks of their support to fomenting (incite, provoke, agitate, instigate, cause) riots and protests in India and even funding terrorists. Given (considering, taking into account, bearing in mind) the grave (serious, important, crucial, critical), even if (despite the fact, in spite of, notwithstanding, nonetheless, nevertheless) far-fetched (unlikely, doubtful, dubious, implausible, improbable, difficult to believe), nature of the allegations (accusation, charge) against him, regular bail would have been difficult to come by (get, obtain, receive, acquire). Therefore, it is salutary (good, helpful/useful, beneficial, practical, valuable, advantageous, timely, relevant) that the Court has treated the level of adherence (compliance, observance, conformity) to procedure — the need to furnish the grounds of arrest in this case — as sacrosanct (relating to something considered as too important or valuable that no one is permitted to criticize or change it; inviolable, unchallengeable, unimpeachable; sacred, holy, respected, hallowed).

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.malign (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - दुष्टतापूर्ण
English Meaning - evil, evil-intentioned, harmful, bad, hostile, inimical, spiteful.

2.motive (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मकसद
English Meaning - reason, grounds, basis, intention, pretext, purpose.

3.quash (verb)

Hindi Meaning - रद्द करना, खारिज करना
English Meaning - nullify, annul, cancel, revoke, overturn, overrule.

4.lay bare (phrasal verb)

Hindi Meaning - उजागर करना, बेनकाब करना
English Meaning - reveal, disclose, expose, unveil, show, display, exhibit, manifest, highlight, pinpoint.

5.design (noun)

Hindi Meaning - योजना
English Meaning - plan, plot, intention, purpose, target.

6.due process (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - उचित प्रक्रिया
English Meaning - (equally and fairly) correct process; fair treatment.

7.outcome (noun)

Hindi Meaning - परिणाम, नतीजा
English Meaning - consequence, end result, effect, aftermath, conclusion.

8.ground (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आधार, कारण
English Meaning - reason, cause, basis, factor.

9.in writing (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - लिखित रूप में
English Meaning - in written form; in the form of a letter/document.

10.indictment (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अभियोग
English Meaning - a formal written accusation by a grand jury that a person has committed a serious crime; charge, allegation, arraignment, imputation, incrimination.

11.clandestine (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - गुप्त
English Meaning - secret, stealthy, surreptitious, furtive, concealed, covert, veiled, indirect, hidden.

12.invoke (verb)

Hindi Meaning - आह्वान करना
English Meaning - cite, mention, refer to, point to, adduce, turn to, resort to.

13.fictional (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - काल्पनिक
English Meaning - imaginary, unreal.

14.in its entirety (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - पूरी तरह से
English Meaning - completely, entirely, totally, fully.

15.establish (verb)

Hindi Meaning - स्थापित करना
English Meaning - prove, demonstrate, show, display.

16.furnish (verb)

English Meaning - provide, present, give.

17.circumvent (verb)

English Meaning - avoid, evade, get past, bypass, sidestep, dodge, get round, find a way round.

18.remand (noun)

English Meaning - this term is used to refer to the sending back of the accused or prisoner to the custody of a competent authority; pre-trial detention, preventive detention, or provisional detention.

19.sought past tense of seek (verb)

English Meaning - try, aim, attempt.

20.Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) (noun)

English Meaning - an Indian law aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India. Its main objective was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India.

21.overt (adjective)

English Meaning - clear, obvious, noticeable, visible, glaring, blatant.

22.resort to (verb)

English Meaning - have recourse to, fall back on, turn to, use, utilize, adopt, employ.

23.blatant (adjective)

English Meaning - evident, flagrant/glaring, obvious.

24.go into (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - look into, investigate, inquire into, examine.

25.merits (noun)

English Meaning - an essential inherent quality (rights and wrongs only) while evaluating a case (not by external aspects).

26.warrant (verb)

English Meaning - justify, validate, sanction, permit, authorize.

27.adverse (adjective)

English Meaning - dangerous, harmful, detrimental, unhealthy; unfavourable, disadvantageous, bad.

28.inference (noun)

English Meaning - conclusion, reasoning, assumption, supposition, reckoning, guesswork, interpretation.

29.bona fide (adjective)

English Meaning - legitimate, legal, genuine, real, authentic (grounds/reasons).

30.bona fide (noun)

English Meaning - legitimate/real (grounds/reasons).

31.dawn (noun)

English Meaning - early morning.

32.comply with (verb)

English Meaning - abide by, stick to, hold to, adhere to, act in accordance with, conform to.

33.statutory (adjective)

English Meaning - legal, lawful, legitimate, rightful, constitutional.

34.keep in the dark (phrase)

English Meaning - to fail to tell/inform something to someone; to keep secret or hidden; ignorant of, uninformed about

35.proceedings (noun)

English Meaning - inquiry, hearing, trial, legal action, legal investigation.

36.readily (adverb)

English Meaning - promptly, quickly; easily.

37.confine (verb)

English Meaning - restrict, lock in/up, imprison, incarcerate.

38.the accused (noun)

English Meaning - the suspected person.

39.deprive of (verb)

English Meaning - dispossess, strip of, deny, prevent from having.

40.avail (verb)

English Meaning - use, make use of, utilize, resort to, turn to.

41.so as to (phrase)

English Meaning - in order to, with the aim of; with the purpose of.

42.prayer (noun)

English Meaning - an earnest hope/wish.

43.custody (noun)

English Meaning - imprisonment, incarceration, arrest, restraint, confinement, internment, detention, captivity.

44.seek (verb)

English Meaning - request, ask for, demand.

45.bail (noun)

English Meaning - conditional, temporary release of an arrested/imprisoned person when a specified amount of security is deposited or pledged (as cash or property) to ensure his/her appearance in court when required.

46.mislead (verb)

English Meaning - deceive, lie to, cheat, defraud, misguide, misinform, misdirect.

47.notable (adjective)

English Meaning - important, significant, striking, glaring, obvious; impressive, remarkable.

48.lay down (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - formulate, stipulate, frame, prescribe, promulgate.

49.in fact (phrase)

English Meaning - actually, in actuality, really, in reality, indeed.

50.interpret (verb)

English Meaning - explain, elucidate, describe, spell out, clarify, make clear.

51.provision (noun)

English Meaning - clause, condition, stipulation, requirement, term.

52.as a matter of course (phrase)

English Meaning - as a (general) rule; as per usual/normal; something that is expected.

53.offence (noun)

English Meaning - crime, wrongdoing, illegal act, misdeed; breach, violation of the law.

54.charge sheet (noun)

English Meaning - an official document on which a police officer enters details of the charge against a person.

55.outlandish (adjective)

English Meaning - strange, peculiar, odd, weird, unusual, abnormal, atypical, unconventional, bizarre.

56.claim (noun)

English Meaning - allegation.

57.alleged (adjective)

English Meaning - supposed, claimed, professed, reported, ostensible.

58.conspiracy (noun)

English Meaning - unlawful plan, intrigue, collaboration/deception.

59.party-state (noun)

English Meaning - A country (state) in which power is held by a single political party.

60.speak of (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - discuss, talk about, bring in.

61.foment (verb)

English Meaning - incite, provoke, agitate, instigate, cause.

62.given (preposition)

English Meaning - considering, taking into account, bearing in mind.

63.grave (adjective)

English Meaning - serious, important, crucial, critical.

64.even if (phrase)

English Meaning - despite the fact, in spite of, notwithstanding, nonetheless, nevertheless.

65.far-fetched (adjective)

English Meaning - unlikely, doubtful, dubious, implausible, improbable, difficult to believe.

66.allegation (noun)

English Meaning - accusation, charge.

67.come by (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - get, obtain, receive, acquire.

68.salutary (adjective)

English Meaning - good, helpful/useful, beneficial, practical, valuable, advantageous, timely, relevant.

69.adherence (noun)

English Meaning - compliance, observance, conformity.

70.sacrosanct (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to something considered as too important or valuable that no one is permitted to criticize or change it; inviolable, unchallengeable, unimpeachable; sacred, holy, respected, hallowed.