Court gives Greenpeace access to 2 accounts

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court Wednesday unlocked two bank accounts of Greenpeace India frozen by the government last month following allegations that the NGO misreported foreign aid.

Telling the Centre it could not choke the non-profit of its funds, justice Rajiv Shakdher allowed the environmental organisation to use the accounts for its day-to-day functioning and for receiving donations from domestic supporters.

The home ministry had in April blocked seven Greenpeace India bank accounts because of alleged flaws in the manner in which it maintained its books, sent reports and spent money.

The court also allowed the NGO to liquidate its fixed deposits, saying these and fresh donations be used for its aims and objectives in accordance with law. The order comes as a huge relief for the group that recently told the media it may have to shut down within a month if its funds were not released.

“You have to release some funds, they need to pay bills... The way to go forward is you release some funds,” the court told the government.

T he r uling came after Greenpeace challenged the suspension of its licence under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for six months apart from the freezing of its accounts.

The court, however, clarified that the organisation cannot utilise the amount frozen by the government.

After the order, the NGO i n a p re s s re le a s e sa i d , “Greenpeace India called the interim relief a ‘lifeline’ and vowed to restart its campaigns to reduce air pollution, protect forests and boost solar power immediately.”

Analysts see the government action as par t of a wider crackdown after an Intelligence Bureau (IB) report last summer said Greenpeace and other activist groups were damaging India’s economy by campaigning against power projects, mining and genetically-modified food.

Defending the Centre’s action, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the steps taken were only meant to enforce the law passed by the previous government.

“There has been no action taken contrary to law. No patriotic citizen can object to this,” he said.

The court also asked the government to decide within eight weeks a plea by the nonprofit to release up to 25% of its foreign contribution, as per the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Rules.

Additional solicitor general Sanjay Jain told the court the home ministry was willing to consider the NGO’s application but said the group must come clean on the details of its bank accounts. “Greenpeace has not responded to our queries,” Jain said.

Greenpeace, on the other hand, accused the Centre of trying to shut it down using FCRA while asserting that a third of its total funds come from foreign donors and the rest from domestic supporters.

The home ministry in its af fidavit said Greenpeace opened several bank accounts for utilisation of foreign contribution without informing the government and alleged that “serious violations” were found against the NGO.

In its plea, the environmental NGO which has been under attack from the Modi government, contended that the suspension of licence and freezing of accounts were completely “illegal and unconstitutional”.

ANALYSTS SEE THE GOVERNMENT ACTION AS PART OF A WIDER CRACKDOWN AFTER AN IB REPORT LAST SUMMER