Delhi HC postpones hearing of Greenpeace India petition

The Delhi High Court has postponed the hearing of a petition of Greenpeace India which sought to quash the Centre's notification of freezing its seven

bank accounts.

Lawyers advocating for Greenpeace India told the High Court that the government should immediately unblock the organisation's bank accounts.

The Home Ministry had filed its affidavit in the case before the court yesterday.

According to reports, the Home Ministry's affidavit said that during the statutory inspection conducted by the authorities, four additional utilization accounts were found and in all these four utilization accounts, the foreign contribution was being diverted and was getting merged with the domestic contributions.

Earlier in May, Greenpeace India had submitted a comprehensive rebuttal to allegations contained in the MHA's 'showcause notice' and demanded the immediate unblocking of its domestic bank accounts.

According to Greenpeace India, the showcause notice is riddled with clerical errors, as well as unfounded allegations that undermine the position of the MHA.

Greenpeace India also accused the MHA of failing to respond to its own requests for documents and 'leaking misinformation to the media instead of abiding by the principles of natural justice'.