'Offload' stamp scrubbed from Greenpeace India activist's passport

Greenpeace India on Wednesday said the "offload" stamp by Delhi airport officials was "expunged" from the passport of its senior campaigner Priya Pillai who was taken off from a flight to London in January.

According to a Greenpeace India statement, the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) revoked the the travel restrictions that were put in place after a "look-out" circular was issued by the Intelligence Bureau against Pillai.

The Delhi High Court had in March overturned the travel restrictions, stating that Pillai's right to travel abroad "cannot be impeded only because it is not in sync with policy perspective of the executive".

On receiving her passport, Pillai said: "Today I feel relief, as well as great pride in India's legal system and our democracy as a whole. But we should not have to rely on the courts to deal with overzealous actions from the MHA (ministry of home affairs)."

"As I speak, Greenpeace India's national bank accounts are still blocked, meaning that Indian citizens are being prevented from supporting a democratic cause. That is shameful," she added.

Pillai was stopped on January 11 from boarding a flight to London where she was scheduled to make a presentation in the British parliament on the rights of forest-dwelling communities affected by coal mining in Madhya Pradesh's Mahan.