4 min readGhaziabad, New DelhiJan 7, 2026 06:12 AM IST
First published on: Jan 7, 2026 at 06:12 AM IST
Well-known climate activist Harjeet Singh was arrested by UP Police under the state’s excise laws in Ghaziabad on Tuesday, a day after searches by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at premises linked to him allegedly led to the recovery of a cache of Indian and foreign-made liquor “beyond permissible limits”, the central agency said.
The ED said it is also probing Singh’s visits to Pakistan, including one in February last year, and Bangladesh, with the agency tracking a visit last month amid the anti-India protests there.
According to the ED, its probe and Monday’s searches at three premises in Delhi and Ghaziabad linked to Singh and the climate advocacy group he co-founded, Satat Sampada Pvt Ltd, are part of a wider investigation into suspected misuse of foreign funds to allegedly influence Government policies and undermine the country’s energy security.
According to police, Singh was arrested under sections of the UP Excise Act after a complaint was filed by the state’s Excise department in the early hours of Tuesday based on information shared by the ED that a large quantity of liquor was found at his residence in Ghaziabad.
“The said liquor is not valid for sale in the state of UP… it has been informed that the liquor found at Harjeet Singh’s residence is prima facie more than the capacity determined by the state government for holding liquor,” the FIR stated. Singh was later granted bail by a local court.
A globally recognised face in the climate sector, Singh has played a prominent role in international negotiations on behalf of observer organisations. He did not respond to calls and messages from The Indian Express seeking comment on the searches, the allegations, the arrest and the claims regarding his foreign visits.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the ED said it is examining Singh’s visit to Pakistan for the ‘Breathe Pakistan Summit’ last year as well as a trip to Bangladesh where he delivered a lecture at Sher-e-Bangla University allegedly without an official invitation, and met “various individuals unconnected to the stated purpose” of the visit.
The agency said that funding for these trips is under scrutiny as part of an ongoing probe under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.
According to the ED, the searches were part of an investigation into “suspicious foreign inward remittances” of over Rs 6 crore received by Satat Sampada, where Singh’s wife Jyoti Awasthi is also a co-founder, between 2021 and 2025.
The agency said the funds were received allegedly under the “garb of consultancy charges” from foreign entities such as Climate Action Network and Stand.earth which, it claimed, had themselves received funds from NGOs such as Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
The ED alleged that cross-verification of filings made by the remitters abroad showed that the funds were intended to promote the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FF-NPT) within India.
Describing FF-NPT as a proposed international treaty aimed at phasing out fossil fuel production, the agency claimed its adoption could expose India to legal challenges in international forums and “severely compromise” the country’s energy security and economic development.
The FF-NPT is, in fact, an idea promoted mainly by civil society groups to establish an international treaty to stop the expansion of the use of fossil fuels that are the prime reason for global warming. The idea draws its inspiration from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
However, there is no formal proposal for FF-NPT under discussion at an official level, and no country has ever proposed such a treaty at any climate meeting.
The ED, meanwhile, has also alleged that Satat Sampada, which describes itself as an agro-based company promoting organic farming and marketing organic produce, was being used as a “front” to channel “foreign funds” for “foreign-influenced” activism.
According to the ED, the company had minimal consultancy revenue and was running at a loss prior to 2020–21, but turned profitable thereafter by booking foreign remittances as revenue from consultancy services and agro-product sales.
The ED has also alleged that Singh and Awasthi diverted funds received from foreign NGOs to their personal accounts for private use.
The agency said that funding for these trips is under scrutiny as part of an ongoing probe under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.
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