Priya Pillai is a campaigner with Greenpeace India. Pillai and Greenpeace India have been supporting tribal villages in the Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh opposed to the Mahan coal mine, which threatens a large forest area that many thousands depend on for their livelihoods. Mahan, the proposed mining project is led by Essar, a London-based company. Pillai’s case originated out of her criticism of the union government’s allocation of coal reserves in the forests of Mahan, Madhya Pradesh, to Mahan Coal Limited, a corporation jointly promoted by ventures of the Essar Group and the Aditya Birla Group. In March 2014, Mahan Coal filed a complaint alleging defamation by Pillai. On 5 September 2016, a petition filed by the Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai, questioning India’s criminal defamation law, came up for hearing in the Supreme Court. On 9 January 2017 the Supreme Court of India dismissed Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai’s challenge to the criminal defamation law.