Sarat Sampada founders Harjeet Singh and Jyoti Aswati say allegations are ‘baseless, biased and misleading’
Police have raided the home of one of India’s leading environmental activists over claims his campaigning for a treaty to cut the use of fossil fuels was undermining the national interest.
Investigators from India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) claim that Harjeet Singh and his wife, Jyoti Awasthi, co-founders of Satat Sampada (Nature Forever), were paid almost £500,000 to advocate for the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty (FFNPT).
The ED is a law enforcement agency which operates under India’s ministry of finance and is responsible for enforcing economic laws and investigating financial crimes. In a statement, the agency said it had carried out searches at Singh’s home and Satat Sampada properties “as part of an ongoing investigation into suspicious foreign inward remittances received in the garb of consultancy charges” from climate campaign groups, “which have in-turn received huge funds from prior reference category NGOs like Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
“However, cross-verification of filings made by the remitters abroad indicates that the funds were actually intended to promote the agenda of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty within India,” the agency said.
