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Delhi HC accepts Greenpeace India's writ petition, directs MHA to respond

| | May 19, 2015, at 03:08 am
New Delhi, May 18 (IBNS): The Delhi High Court on Monday agreed to rule on Greenpeace India's legal challenge to the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) decision to suspend its FCRA license and block the group's international and national bank accounts.
The court issued notices to MHA and several Indian banks calling on them to respond to Greenpeace India’s writ petition, which is to be heard on May 26.  
 
“We believe we have a strong case,” said Samit Aich, Executive Director, Greenpeace India. “We’re calling for the order to be quashed because of the arbitrary and unconstitutional way the MHA has acted. Freezing both our national and international bank accounts is beyond the scope of the Foreign Contributions Regulations Act (FCRA) and the jurisdiction of the MHA.”
 
In court on Monday, the judge asked Greenpeace India to declare what resources it would need to continue to function normally until August. Greenpeace India is currently collating this information and will provide it imminently.
 
Aich continued: “Our national bank accounts contain donations from thousands of Indian citizens, who give as little as Rs 350 a month. Because they’re blocked, we’ve had to scale back our campaigns on things like air pollution and solar street lighting. Our staff and their families are facing an uncertain future, but are showing amazing passion and spirit.”
 
Greenpeace argues that the MHA’s actions show evidence of ‘bad faith’ and are an attempt to silence Greenpeace India because of its high profile campaigns in areas like coal mining, air pollution and the use of pesticides in agriculture.
 
The Delhi High Court has also called on three major Indian banks to respond - IDBI Bank, Yes Bank and ICICI Bank. Greenpeace India’s petition claims that these banks did not have the right to freeze the accounts without a court order and their actions represent a breach of trust.
 
In a separate case on January 20, the Delhi High Court ruled in favor of Greenpeace India, ordering the government to release €235,000 to Greenpeace India, which the court said had been blocked ‘arbitrarily and unconstitutionally’ in June 2014. In March, the court also overturned Priya Pillai’s travel ban, which was also orchestrated by the MHA.  
 
“This is not about Greenpeace India alone. This is about the government trying to silence those who raise uncomfortable questions and shine a light on the destruction of India’s environment and the violation of Indian laws to benefit a powerful few. Greenpeace campaigns for a better, safer, just and more sustainable environment for Indians and people across the world."
 
We ask the Home Minister to address the issues we raise directly, instead of using these heavy handed measures that undermine the democratic values of our country,” said Aich.

#Delhi HC accepts Greenpeace India's writ petition # directs MHA to respond

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