Environmental Campaigner Faces Criminal Defamation Case
On 9 Januart the Supreme Court of India dismissed Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai’s challenge to the criminal defamation law. The case will now go forward.
Priya Pillai is a campaigner with Greenpeace India. Pillai and Greenpeace India have been supporting tribal villages in the Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh opposed to the Mahan coal mine, which threatens a large forest area that many thousands depend on for their livelihoods.
On 9 January, the Supreme Court of India rejected the appeal by Priya Pillai to set aside criminal defamation charges against her.
The Greenpeace India campaigner will now have to face criminal defamation case filed by Mahan Coal Ltd. The company alleges that Priya Pillai carryied out negative publicity and protests over purported irregularities in mining activities. The ruling of the court clears the way for the case against her to proceed, one of a number of legal and bureaucratic measures Priya Pillai and Greenpeace have faced over the last two years.
