An Indian court Tuesday ordered the government to release frozen funds worth approximately $270,000 to Greenpeace India Society sent from environmental group’s global headquarters.
Delhi High Court overturned a decision by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs to restrict funding for Greenpeace and other international environmental organizations in June last year.
The ministry’s directive followed a report by India’s Intelligence Bureau that alleged that the protests of such groups could be knocking percentage points off of the country’s gross domestic product growth.
The central government had asked India’s Reserve Bank of India to delay fund transfers to local units of six non-profits including, Greenpeace International, Association for India’s Development, Action Aid International and Survival International.
The latest judgment by the Delhi High Court came in response to a petition filed by Greenpeace India in August last year that said that the government’s decision to block their foreign funding pipeline was “uncommunicated and illegal.” In its petition, Greenpeace also said that it had sought government documents explaining the reasons behind the freeze on funds but had not received a response.
In October, the government said that contributions from “certain foreign donors…is used for agitations and campaign, thereby adversely impacting national interests” and that Greenpeace India had failed to provide complete details of the project for which it had received funds from its counterpart in Amsterdam.
On Tuesday, the court ruled that the government had been unable to produce any “material on record on the basis of which its action could be sustained,” according to Samir Parikh, a Delhi-based lawyer representing Greenpeace India.
The court’s decision had “upheld the legitimacy of the issues Greenpeace takes up in India,” Samit Aich, the executive director of Greenpeace Indiasaid in a statement.
The report by India’s Intelligence Bureau last year said Indian NGOs with foreign donors were found to “create an environment which lends itself to stalling developmental projects.”
Under Indian law, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act permits the government to restrict overseas funding to nonprofits. However, given the new government’s pro-development stance, its decision to curb funding to NGOs was seen as a move to clear the passage for big-ticket projects, including those involving nuclear power and coal mining and expedite their completion.
June’s report named some companies like POSCO, Essar Energy PLC and U.K.-based Vedanta Resources PLC, whose ongoing projects had been mired by activities of the nonprofit groups.
Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/01/21/court-orders-indian-government-to-free-greenpeace-funds
Delhi High Court overturned a decision by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs to restrict funding for Greenpeace and other international environmental organizations in June last year.
The ministry’s directive followed a report by India’s Intelligence Bureau that alleged that the protests of such groups could be knocking percentage points off of the country’s gross domestic product growth.
The central government had asked India’s Reserve Bank of India to delay fund transfers to local units of six non-profits including, Greenpeace International, Association for India’s Development, Action Aid International and Survival International.
The latest judgment by the Delhi High Court came in response to a petition filed by Greenpeace India in August last year that said that the government’s decision to block their foreign funding pipeline was “uncommunicated and illegal.” In its petition, Greenpeace also said that it had sought government documents explaining the reasons behind the freeze on funds but had not received a response.
In October, the government said that contributions from “certain foreign donors…is used for agitations and campaign, thereby adversely impacting national interests” and that Greenpeace India had failed to provide complete details of the project for which it had received funds from its counterpart in Amsterdam.
On Tuesday, the court ruled that the government had been unable to produce any “material on record on the basis of which its action could be sustained,” according to Samir Parikh, a Delhi-based lawyer representing Greenpeace India.
The court’s decision had “upheld the legitimacy of the issues Greenpeace takes up in India,” Samit Aich, the executive director of Greenpeace Indiasaid in a statement.
The report by India’s Intelligence Bureau last year said Indian NGOs with foreign donors were found to “create an environment which lends itself to stalling developmental projects.”
Under Indian law, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act permits the government to restrict overseas funding to nonprofits. However, given the new government’s pro-development stance, its decision to curb funding to NGOs was seen as a move to clear the passage for big-ticket projects, including those involving nuclear power and coal mining and expedite their completion.
June’s report named some companies like POSCO, Essar Energy PLC and U.K.-based Vedanta Resources PLC, whose ongoing projects had been mired by activities of the nonprofit groups.
Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/01/21/court-orders-indian-government-to-free-greenpeace-funds
