Worldwide Media Holdings (WMH), the investor in NewsClick, on Friday said it “strictly followed all aspects of Indian law” before investing in the news portal in 2018 and that false allegations continued to circulate despite all the facts WMH had given to the Indian authorities.
Jason Pfetcher, a U.S-based lawyer, said People’s Support Foundation (PSF) was created in 2017 by funds donated from the sale of ThoughtWorks, an IT consultancy firm founded by Neville Roy Singham.
Mr. Pfecher said he is the manager of PSF that wholly owns and operates WMH, a for-profit investment vehicle which has made various investments in progressive media projects around the world.
Mr. Singham has been named an accused in the first information report filed by the Delhi Police under various Sections of the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, along with Prabir Purkayastha, the founder of NewsClick, who was arrested on October 3.
He said he had attended various shareholder meetings of NewsClick but none of the principals of PSF or WMH had ever influenced, guided, or directed its journalistic work.
“It appears that much of the basis for this action by the Indian government stems from a slanderous article that was published by The New York Times on August 5, 2023. Before that article was published, I responded to the reporters’ questions on behalf of PSF as follows: ‘PSF has never received any funding, nor taken direction from any foreign individual, organization, political party, or government (or from any of their members or representatives).’ The New York Times failed to include PSF’s categorical denial of foreign funding, and instead left readers to believe that the source of PSF’s funding (or Mr. Singham’s for that matter) might have come from China, rather than from the sale of ThoughtWorks. Their salacious headlines and misleading ‘reporting’ have now directly contributed to the arrest of innocent journalists,” he said.
After NewsClick’s offices were searched in 2021 by the Enforcement Directorate, which accused the organisation of money laundering, WMH “provided the Indian authorities confirmation regarding the provenance of the funds invested in Newsclick by WMH. WMH has also provided ample evidence that it is and has always been in good standing with the state of Delaware where it is incorporated, despite false information being circulated that WMH was a defunct entity when it invested in Newsclick,” Mr. Pfecher said.
He added that reputable lawyers and law firms were consulted to ensure that the investment strictly followed all aspects of Indian law, specifically including those limiting foreign ownership in media companies. “Given the repression that is now taking place, it begs the question as to whether India is a safe place for foreign investors who carefully follow Indian law,” he said.
