Close X
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
ADVT 
India

Greenpeace India's License Suspended

Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 Apr, 2015 10:35 AM
    The Indian government on Thursday announced it has "temporarily" suspended the registration of Greenpeace India under the foreign contributions law for "under-reporting" such funding it and conducting transaction of such funds without informing the authorities as required by the law.
     
    Along with the 180-day suspension, the ministry of home affairs froze all seven bank accounts of the organisation and served it a show-cause notice seeking explanation why its license should not be cancelled.
     
    Greenpeace India, however, has received "no official communication" from the ministry, the NGO said in a statement.
     
    "This is a smear, pure and simple. All of this was put before the Delhi High Court when we brought a case against the centre, and the court decided in our favour," said Greenpeace India executive director Samit Aich.
     
    Posted on the ministry's website, the order found the association in violation of rules under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act for transferring "foreign contribution received in the FCRA designated account to FCRA utilization account and from there to... five other bank accounts without informing authority concerned".
     
    It further said: "The association has under-reported and repeatedly mentioned incorrect amount of foreign contribution received in violation... of FCRA, 2010."
     
    Divya Raghunandan, Greenpeace India programme director, dismissed the charges as based on "bunch of minute technicalities".
     
    "We are confident that we will be able to rebut and respond to these charges that are based on minor technicalities, as told to us by our lawyers and chartered accountant," Raghunandan told IANS.
     
    Greenpeace India also claimed that they were being targeted for expressing dissent and protesting against "crony capitalism" that supported a coal mine project in Mahan forest of Madhya Pradesh's Singrauli district.
     
    Aich added that they "will continue to work towards clean air, clean water and inclusive development in India".
     
    Security agencies, in their reports to the home ministry earlier, had recommended cancellation of Greenpeace India's FCRA registration, terming it a threat to national economic security.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    New Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar To Accompany Sushma On Beijing Trip

    New Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar To Accompany Sushma On Beijing Trip
    New Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar is to accompany External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on her four-day visit to China beginning Saturday.

    New Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar To Accompany Sushma On Beijing Trip

    Stories 'Planted' In Media To Tarnish My Reputation, Sujatha Singh Says

    Stories 'Planted' In Media To Tarnish My Reputation, Sujatha Singh Says
    Two days after she was abruptly relieved of her post, former foreign secretary Sujatha Singh said Friday that her reputation has been tarnished by adverse stories coming out about her on social media and that "it was not necessary to get low and dirty".

    Stories 'Planted' In Media To Tarnish My Reputation, Sujatha Singh Says

    Delhi Shamed Again: 10-Year-Old Girl Raped By Step-Father

    Delhi Shamed Again: 10-Year-Old Girl Raped By Step-Father
    A 10-year-old girlwas raped by her step-father at her home here, police said Thursday. The accused has been arrested

    Delhi Shamed Again: 10-Year-Old Girl Raped By Step-Father

    Criminal Case Filed Against Kejriwal For Abetting Bribery

    Criminal Case Filed Against Kejriwal For Abetting Bribery
    A case was filed Thursday in a court here seeking action against AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal for exhorting voters in his election speeches to take bribes if offered by the BJP and Congress but to vote for his party.

    Criminal Case Filed Against Kejriwal For Abetting Bribery

    BJP Poses Five Queries To Kejriwal, Aap Says Party Panicking

    BJP Poses Five Queries To Kejriwal, Aap Says Party Panicking
    The BJP Thursday asked AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal why he took support from the Congress to form a government and why did he seek facilities after rejecting them first, but the AAP termed the queries "old and boring" and claimed the party was "panicking".

    BJP Poses Five Queries To Kejriwal, Aap Says Party Panicking

    Sunanda Pushkar's Son Called For Questioning

    Sunanda Pushkar's Son Called For Questioning
    Sunanda Pushkar's son from her previous marriage has been called for questioning in connection with her murder, police said Wednesday.

    Sunanda Pushkar's Son Called For Questioning