Mumbai: In a rather strange stand, the Mumbai Press Club has claimed that allowing human rights defenders and academics incarcerated in the infamous Elgar Parishad case into the premises will bring “disrepute” to the club. The Press Club, once known for its liberal credentials, issued a show-cause notice to one of its members, Gurbir Singh, for allegedly “making arrangements for a visit” by a few of the Elgar Parishad defendants to the club premises in January.In the show-cause notice served to Singh, Mumbai Press Club secretary Mayuresh Ganpataye wrote: “It is alleged that you facilitated the entry and presence of such persons within the Club premises without due regard to the potential reputational consequences for the institution. The reported circumstances suggest that the assembly may have had the effect, or at least the perceived effect, of associating the Club with individuals facing serious criminal allegations, thereby exposing the Club to adverse publicity and risking the impression that its premises are being used in a manner inconsistent with its stated objectives and standing.”The notice was served following a complaint received by the club, Ganpataye said in his written response to The Wire.Among the actions that the Press Club intends to initiate against Singh includes suspension or termination of his membership. Singh, a senior member of the club, has been both President and Chairman of the Press Club in the past. The notice was issued following an impromptu meet up with a few Elgar Parishad defendants at the press club in January. Singh told The Wire that since a few of them were in the vicinity, they happened to visit the club. “It was an informal catch,” Singh said.Contrary to what was stated in the show-cause notice served to Singh, he claimed that he was not the one who organised this meet up. “The decision to serve such a show-cause notice is outrageous and although it should not matter whether I organised this meet-up or not, the fact remains that I did not,” Singh says.“I was only informed over a phone call about a few Elgar Parishad folks visiting the Press Club. I am not aware what entry was made into the club’s register at the gate, but after the meeting, I did make the initial payment and the rest of them paid me their share,” he says, adding that it is very common practice at the club.The Press Club’s decision to bar entry to the Elgar Parishad defendants is strange as the club had hosted a book launch event for Anand Teltumbde’s book, Iconoclast: A Reflective Biography of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, only a few months ago,Teltumbde, an academic and civil liberties activist who has been invited to several Press Club events, said that the club is “toeing a dangerous line prompted by the reactionary Hindutva establishment”. “The release of my book Iconoclast was jointly organised by the Press Club and Penguin Random House, the publisher. The press Club was very much under the same committee management that alleges disrepute today,” he pointed out. Similar events, including the launch of Varavara Rao’s poetry translation, also happened at the club’s premises. Rao, a Telugu revolutionary writer, is one of the 16 persons who faced incarceration in the case.Such gatherings are common at the press club, where reporters meet their sources or eminent personalities to discuss issues. At such meets, the press club does not necessarily check whether the individual has a pending case against them. “Politicians, even those with several pending cases, and of a serious nature, are seen at the press club. How are they allowed then?” asked Singh.Following the show-cause notice, at least two senior journalists and members of the Mumbai Press Club have written to the press club’s management asking them to withdraw the notice. “I am shocked and surprised that a liberal platform like the Mumbai Press Club, which is mandated to allow for a free flow of views, thoughts, debates and events, has taken such a myopic and unacceptable position,” wrote Bernard D’Mello. “This is to inform you that I along with another senior member of the club, Mr. Shrikant Modak, had on 19-01-2026 invited a few persons including Mr. Gurbir Singh, Anand Teltumbde, respected author and thinker, well-known journalist Gautam Navlakha…,” D’Mello further wrote in his letter. Modak too sent a letter registering his dissent against the press club’s decision and pointed that such a notice was “not supported by the bylaws of the Club nor by any tenet of law”. “In fact, it defeats the very purpose of the Press Club, which is to allow journalists to interview and interact with a wide variety of persons and analyse the flow of news and events,” he wrote. The Wire sent a detailed questionnaire to Mayuresh Ganpataye, secretary of the Mumbai Press Club, who issued the show-cause notice on behalf of the committee. In response, Ganpataye replied, “Pursuant to a complaint received, a notice has been duly issued to the concerned member seeking appropriate clarifications. As the matter is presently under examination, we are not in a position to offer any further comments at this stage.”