The Supreme Court has dismissed advocate Ritwick Dutta’s hopes by rejecting his appeal against the income tax assessment of funds received by ‘Lawyers Initiative for Environment’ or LIFE from a U.S. group, Earthjustice. The authorities declared the funds as fees and claimed that Dutta used them to challenge thermal power plants in India.

Funds Misused For Coal Plant Disputes

His lawyers, a team of lawyers, senior advocate C.U. Singh, and Sachit Jolly told Justices Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra that they reported and taxed the funds as income. They argued that the review was legitimate, they withheld no information, and that the tax scrutiny aimed to harass an environmentalist.

LIFE had received Rs 22 crore from Earthjustice in the past five years and allegedly presented money paid for professional fees. The argument claimed that Dutta used the money for purposes unrelated to LIFE’s approved goals, such as opposing coal power plants in India, rather than for actual legal services.

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Funds Diverted For Coal Activism

The Income Tax department highlighted that Dutta received close to Rs 5 crore in professional fees, even though Earthjustice did not participate in any of the cases he handled. It showcased evidence, including mail, to prove that the money was for funding activities against thermal power plants in India and not for any legal work. One such e-mail, dated March 2017, detailed how Dutta was talking about how they could put pressure on Indian authorities. The other e-mail, from December 2015, had a five-year plan for activities concerning coal.

Dutta had earlier approached the Delhi High Court with this income tax notice, which was dismissed on May 29 by justices Yashwant Varma and Purushaindra K. Kaurav as they rejected his petition.

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