Delhi HC allows Greenpeace to use two accounts to get domestic donations

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court has allowed Greenpeace to access two of its domestic accounts to accept fresh domestic donations so that it could use it for day-to-day functioning. The court also permitted the Greenpeace India Society (GIS) to encash its fixed deposits amounting to around Rs 7 crore.

The NGO pleaded before the court that the government did not have the power to stop domestic contributions under FCRA. It claimed that contributions from nearly 75,000 Indians had been rejected by banks where it has its accounts.

Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs revealed that the so-called domestic donations to Greenpeace India were also under investigation since the NGO had not revealed the names and identities of donors. “Even domestic donations need to be transparent. Even the Aam Aadmi Party put out all its donations on the website,” claimed a senior official.

The MHA that had frozen seven accounts of the NGO did not see the order of Justice Rajiv Shakdher as a setback since the court neither stayed the MHA action nor did it unfreeze the bank accounts. It only allowed two of the seven accounts to be used to get domestic donations which could be used by the Greenpeace India subsequently.

The NGO still cannot use the Rs 2 crore that is already lodged in those accounts. The NGO was allowed to use only that money that would come in from domestic sources after the high court order on Wednesday. Greenpeace India had asked the court to direct MHA to free its international and national bank accounts, which were blocked last month.