No board, nameplate at address of NGO that filed PIL 2 yrs ago

On the second floor of the building, one Tarannum, who identified herself as Ahmed’s wife, spoke to The Indian Express. When asked about Ahmed and his NGO, she said, “My husband runs the NGO International Civil Enforcement Group of Anti-Terrorism Ethics (ICEGATE). Earlier the office was somewhere else, but recently the NGO has begun working from home.” When asked about the work of the NGO, she said, “Please talk to my husband. He will tell you.”

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When The Indian Express tried to contact Ahmed on his phone, a voice recording cautioned in Hindi: “The number you are trying to contact is a VIP number, and is under surveillance. Choose your words carefully when you speak.” After a few seconds, Ahmed answered.

When asked about the NGO that has no board at the mentioned address, Ahmed said, “How does it matter if there is a board or not? We have been working here with three members.” Asked if the NGO had worked on any other issue, he said they did not have the time. “Since the NGO was set up, we have pursued only the Essar case,” he said.

Ahmed, 44, said that over the past two years, he and the other members have been “developing means” to fight the case in court after their plea was found to be defective. “There were some defects in our plea and it was sent back to us, but we were no longer able to afford the same lawyer due to a financial crunch. Other lawyers whom we approached were not convinced, citing confidential material that we had in possession,” said Ahmed.

He said he had written to the Supreme Court to avail of a lawyer who would fight the case pro bono. He also said he had written to all major political parties but got no response.

Supreme Court lawyer Suren Uppal recently filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court seeking a court-monitored inquiry by a SIT on the same issue. When asked how he got the material, Ahmed said, “One of the employees who works with Essar refinery had approached us.”