The non-government body said it will move court against Tamil Nadu government's notice
Hitting back, Greenpeace India on Thursday said it will move court against Tamil Nadu government's notice threatening cancellation of its registration and alleged that the "perversely framed and maliciously designed" charges were levelled at the behest of Union home ministry.
Denying any "wrongdoing", the non-government organsation, which received a notice on June 18 for alleged breach of Tamil Nadu state government regulations on registered societies, said the charges were "baseless and arbitrary" and it was a target of "hostile discrimination".
"Greenpeace India will soon legally challenge malicious charges outlined in a notice threatening the cancellation of its society's registration.
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"The perversely framed and maliciously designed charges in the notice from the registrar of societies in Tamil Nadu state are baseless and arbitrary. The registrar's actions suggest it is acting on direction from the ministry of home affairs," the NGO said in a statement.
The central government has already barred Greenpeace India from receiving foreign funds by suspending its licence for six months and freezing all its accounts after alleging that it has "prejudicially" affected the country's interests.
The Green Peace India alleged that the notice appears to have been sent at the request of the ministry of home affairs, which has been trying to "silence" it "for more than a year without success."
"We have been the subject of a string of penalties imposed by the MHA, all of which have been overturned by the Delhi high court. Now, the MHA is trying to shut us down through other means.
"We're requesting the registrar to provide further information to enable us to quash these latest charges against us," said Greenpeace India interim co-Executive Director Vinuta Gopal said.
The NGO said it has since written to the registrar several times seeking clarifications and time to respond in full but the registrar has so far failed to respond. It said that just because the registrar had concluded that the charges were sufficient to warrant the cancellation of the society's registration, it had "prejudged" the case and is not interested in any clarifications and instead Greenpeace India is the target of "hostile discrimination."
"We are a legitimate organisation that has been operating legally in India for over 14 years. This absurd notice lacks legal basis and instead appears to have been sent at the request of the ministry of home affairs, which has been trying to silence us for more than a year without success," said Gopal.
The notice alleges that Greenpeace India Society is under the control of 'Stichting Green Peace Council' of the Netherlands. It also alleges inconsistencies between disclosures of foreign funding made to the MHA with respect to the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act and to the registrar of societies in its annual accounts.
The NGO said the alleged "violations" of the Tamil Nadu Registered Societies Act 1975 had previously been approved by the registrar and cannot suddenly be declared unlawful. It also said that the alleged fraud in its accounts is actually the result of the registrar's "misreading" of the documents.
"We fully co-operated with inspections of our society's office because we have nothing to hide. We will be challenging this notice so we can focus again on our important work -- running our campaigns for clean air, clean water and clean electricity for all Indians," Gopal said.
Greenpeace India received the notice on June 18 and was given seven days to respond and prevent the cancellation of its society’s registration.
"Failing or refusing to respond to our requests for clarifications, information and an inspection of the registrar's records amounts to a deliberate denial of natural justice, denying us the right to defend ourselves," Gopal added.
Photograph: greenpeace.org
