“I was told I cannot speak to my lawyer…… the law requires me to comply without seeking legal advice,” Abhinandan Sekhri said in the statement.
New Delhi| A day after the Income Tax officials visited the Delhi premises of digital news portals Newslaundry and Newsclick, the former’s co-founder issued a statement. Newslaundry co-founder Abhinandan Sekhri on Saturday posted the statement on his Twitter.
He said that the Income Tax official visited the Newslaundry office premises at around 12.15 PM on Friday. the document shown to him said it was a “survey”. He further said that the team of six-seven IT officials asked him to hand over his phone and he was not allowed to seek legal counsel. “I was told I cannot speak to my lawyer…… the law requires me to comply without seeking legal advice,” Abhinandan Sekhri said in the statement.
According to the statement, the IT officials searched and looked through all computer devices at the premises. The team also took control of Sekhri’s personal mobile phone, laptop and office machines and all the data was downloaded by the IT team.
Also Read: Newsclick and Newslaundry Delhi Offices Raided By IT Department
Thanks again for your support. My statement is below. You can support us herehttps://t.co/lefMXTG3xw
Please spread the message. pic.twitter.com/YCDni2AIKi— Abhinandan Sekhri (@AbhinandanSekhr) September 11, 2021
“In my understanding, this (taking all data from my personal laptop and mobile phone) violates my fundamental right to privacy. No signed hash value of the data copied was provided to me,” the statement added.
Sekhri said that the IT officials had visited the Newslaundry premises in the month of June. “We have nothing to hide and have done everything by the book and are not in any breach or violation of any law. We conduct our business honestly and with integrity. We have in the past given the IT authorities all documents related to our funding and accounts. We will cooperate in whatever way we are required to by law,” he said.
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