New Delhi: In 2023, Washington-based cybersecurity journalist Raphael Satter reported for Reuters on the rise of Appin, a New Delhi-based information technology firm said to be involved in cyber espionage. Satter suggested that Appin transformed from an educational startup into a prominent “hack-for-hire” operation, stealing sensitive information from executives, politicians, military officials, and wealthy individuals worldwide.
Appin founders Anuj Khare and Rajat Khare, through their legal representatives, have denied the charges against the company.
A month after the report was published, Satter found himself cut off from India, where his family lives. He received a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) accusing him of producing work that “maliciously” damaged India’s reputation. The letter also informed him that his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, a passport-like document, had been revoked.
The Indian government did not provide specific details to Satter’s legal team regarding how his journalistic work was deemed a national security threat.
The timing of the revocation was striking. According to Satter’s lawyer, on the same day that he was formally notified of the OCI revocation, a court in Delhi issued a temporary injunction against his Reuters report, ordering it to be taken down. The report was, however, published again 10 months later after the court lifted the takedown order.
Satter sought answers. He filed an appeal with the MHA, but despite repeated requests, received no response for over a year. He has now taken the Indian government to court over the matter. The first hearing in the case was held in the Delhi High Court Wednesday and an order is pending.
Satter’s lawyer, Karuna Nundy, expressed concern over the lack of clarity regarding the OCI revocation. “Reasons are the heartbeat of any decision, especially when it concerns something as fundamental as taking away someone’s basic rights,” Nundy told ThePrint.
Officials from the MHA did not respond to ThePrint’s queries on Satter’s case.
Despite receiving no explanation for the cancellation of his OCI, Satter is convinced that the decision was a mistake, stemming from a misunderstanding about his journalistic work.
“I believe the decision has been made by mistake or on a misunderstanding,” Satter said in a statement. “I myself cannot be certain as to why my overseas citizenship was cancelled as no cogent reasons have been provided to me,” he added.
OCI status is granted to foreign nationals of Indian origin or those married to Indian citizens, allowing them visa-free travel, residency and employment in India. Satter obtained his OCI card through marriage.
He denies engaging in any journalism while in India, stating that his visits were solely for family purposes.
Satter also stated that during his investigation into Appin, he received threats from individuals allegedly linked to the company, with one source even suggesting that “diplomatic action” could be taken unless Satter abandoned his report. These threats only intensified as his investigation into the company gained more international attention.
Once Satter’s report was out, Appin took legal action against Reuters and it was ordered that the report be taken down on 4 December, 2023.
Before its publication, a group identifying itself as the Association of Appin Training Centres had filed a lawsuit to block the report, claiming it damaged the reputation of Appin training centres and their students—an allegation Reuters disputes.
On 3 October, 2024, the district court lifted the injunction against the report, and it has since been republished with an update in paragraph 14 clarifying that there is no suggestion that legitimate students of the training centres were involved in hacking.
Reuters is not the only media outlet sued by Rajat Khare or Association of Appin Training Centres. An investigation by Reporters Without Borders revealed that at least 15 media outlets investigating Appin have received legal notices, with five facing legal action.
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‘Sure MHA will see it fit to restore OCI card’
Satter, having exhausted administrative channels, was left with no choice but to seek legal recourse against revocation of his OCI card.
In January 2024, he filed a revision petition in the Delhi High Court against the MHA action.
Under Indian law, defamation alone does not constitute sufficient grounds for revoking an OCI card. Satter remains confident that the courts will see the situation for what it is: a case of a journalist simply doing his job.
“My journalism has long been focused on issues of public interest and global importance, including cyber threats to Indian citizens and Indian institutions. I am confident that once the integrity of my journalism is demonstrated before the Indian courts and the true and correct facts are brought to the fore, the Ministry of Home Affairs will see it fit to restore my OCI card,” he stated.
The Indian government is yet to respond in detail to Satter’s legal petition, but the next hearing is scheduled for 22 May this year.
Satter is not the first journalist to have his OCI card revoked or run into trouble with the government over his reportage. According to a Human Rights Watch report, at least 25 foreign journalists with OCI status were in India as of January 2024, and many of them were facing bureaucratic challenges or have had their reporting permissions revoked.
Since 2014, the Indian government is reported to have revoked over 100 OCI cards, beginning with that of journalist Aatish Taseer, who had written a cover story for Time magazine criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Others include Ashok Swain, an Indian-origin Swedish academic whose OCI card was revoked in 2022, with the Indian government reissuing the revocation in 2023 after citing his social media posts as harmful to religious sentiments.
Activist Amrit Wilson also faced revocation of her OCI card in March 2023 for her social media posts on Kashmir and an article on the 2020-2021 farmers’ protests. French journalist Vanessa Dougnac, who had lived in India for over two decades, was threatened with OCI cancellation and accused of creating a negative perception of India.
Angad Singh, an American-Sikh journalist, was deported in 2022 after he produced a documentary about the 2019-2020 protests against India’s amended citizenship law. The government cited his “negative portrayal of India’s secular credentials” as the reason for his deportation and subsequent “blacklisting” despite him being an OCI card holder.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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Nothing wrong with banning so called journalists who work with anti-India entities. They are hired for hitting Indian interests