Court in India Reverses Government Block of Greenpeace Funds

An Indian court ordered the country’s government Tuesday to unfreeze foreign donations to Greenpeace India, which officials had blocked while accusing the organization of undermining the country’s economy, Reuters reports. The environmental activist group said the government had “arbitrarily barred” it from collecting funds from foreign sources, including its international parent and the California-based ClimateWorks Foundation.

India tightened controls on donations from abroad to Greenpeace and other advocacy groups in June after the country’s intelligence service issued a report on the organizations’ campaigns against mining and power projects. The court ruling “is a vindication of our work and the role that credible NGOs … play in support of India’s development,” said Samit Aich, Greenpeace India’s executive director.