"While several international leaders, including the United Nations Secretary General have recently upheld the importance of civil society in healthy democracies, this notice is the latest assault on free speech in India," the organization said in a statement.

 Reacting to the latest development, Vinuta Gopal, Interim Executive Director, said: “The RoS is clearly acting under directions from the Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi, which has been trying to shut Greenpeace India down for over a year now. The MHA’s clumsy tactics to suppress free speech and dissenting voices are turning into a major national and international embarrassment for this government. This is an extension of the deep intolerance for differing viewpoints that sections of this government seem to harbor."

“The Registrar has passed this order without granting Greenpeace a hearing, and without complying with the Madras High Court order to address each of our points and queries. This is a blatant attempt to circumvent the legal process and shows no respect for the law," Gopal said.

“We are confident that we are on strong legal ground. We have faith in the legal process and are confident of overcoming this order,“ Gopal said.