Obituary of Biswa Ranjan Paramguru

Foil Vedanta are devastated to post this obituary of the dedicated public interest lawyer Biswa Paramguru who had been working alongside Foil Vedanta activists in India, and was tragically killed in a motorbike accident on 10th September 2025.

In Loving Memory and Celebration of Biswa’s Life and Work

by Aishwarya Sarkar

In 2019, I was introduced to Mr. Biswa Ranjan Paramguru, whom we fondly called Biswa, in Delhi, India, through our mutual friend Mr. Samarendra Das. The meeting was about a legal case I would later take up against Vedanta in 2021, concerning violations of environmental laws. During our discussion, I learned in detail about Foil Vedanta’s work and Biswa’s history of activism and environmental law advocacy. This inspired me to pursue a similar cause in Korba, Chhattisgarh, the state I originally hail from.

During my research, I learned that in 2014, Biswa filed a very important petition against Hindalco Industries at Hirakud, India challenging fluoride emissions that were harming farmland and poisoning livestock. I learned then how deeply the damage ran: cattle losing teeth, crops reduced to dust, families slipping into poverty. Their complaints had been ignored, but Biswa, as petitioner in person, made sure the suffering had a legal voice. In 2018, the Hon’ble National Green Tribunal ordered Hindalco to pay Rs. 50 lakh in compensation via the District Legal Services Authority, Sambalpur.¹

Thereafter, in 2020, Biswa took on the case of Kulwant Singh & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors., challenging Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL) in Punjab. Nearly 965 acres of farmland had been devastated by fly ash; cotton and paddy crops lay covered in grey dust. Many farmers had lost hope for justice. But Biswa walked through their damaged agricultural fields, visited their homes, and listened to their stories. He worked tirelessly, assuring the petitioners that he would secure relief for them. Amidst all of this, he also faced pressures to settle and attempts to have him drop the case: pressures that never shook his character. Eventually, the Hon’ble National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered TSPL to pay Rs. 84,99,574/- in compensation for nuisance under Section 133 of the CrPC. The decision is still good law.²

In 2022, I approached Biswa seeking his guidance for preparation as well as eventually for him to settle the draft of, Son Kunwar & Others v. Union of India and Others. ³ The issue pertained to Vedanta’s Thermal Power plant at BALCO, Korba, Chhattisgarh, India which was accumulating legacy fly ash and spreading pollution into adjacent villages like Rogbahari, Korba, Chhattisgarh, India although locals had already filed suits, the case was tangled with complexities: pending litigation, environmental clearances, violations of environmental norms, villagers’ rights, and other technical details. From our first few hours together, Biswa brought clarity. Even though the specifics were new, he treated them as though he’d handled similar challenges before: reviewing documents, spotting violations, showing which evidence would matter most. He guided me in framing the petition better: which norms had been breached, what reliefs to request, what facts to emphasize: helping me shape the case. In 2023, the Hon’ble NGT recognized that the applicants’ claim was legal and directed them to approach the SDM for compensation.

Last year, in 2024, Biswa appeared before the National Green Tribunal in Ramesh Sazo Gauns v. Union of India & Ors., challenging Vedanta Ltd.’s Environmental Clearance for an iron ore mining project in Bicholim, Goa, India. Vedanta had secured approval by misrepresenting facts and falsely declaring that the lease area contained no water bodies. Through his legal research, supported by his colleagues at Foil Vedanta, Biswa revealed that thirteen lakes lay within the lease area: extremely vital for farming, fishing, and community life in the region.

Although the journey from preparing the case to getting it listed was far from smooth, with procedural hurdles, delays, and the additional challenges of his own health struggles, despite all of that Biswa pressed on with determination and ensured that the case reached the Tribunal and was heard on its merits. The Tribunal, convinced of the gravity of the matter, condoned the delay and admitted the appeal on merit.

Biswa didn’t shy away from difficult questions or risks. His guidance reflected the same uncompromising integrity he applied in all his work. Then, seven years ago, as a fresher working with him, I learned how a legal strategy grounded in evidence and principle could be built for a case to be presented before the NGT.

What distinguished Biswa was not just his ability to navigate the nuances of the law and how to use it for the benefit of environment and heritage, but his integrity and passion. He had high ethical standards, never chasing quick fame or popularity. He never compromised on diligence. His enduring aim was justice and relief for those whom the system had failed. He was not someone who would get lured by corporations offering a rich slice of a settlement. That is how his good character as well as long and wise experience of the law had positioned him above the fray. His commitment towards justice was fierce and uncompromising; it was never indiscriminate. His stance before the Courts was forceful and unflinching; his aggression was never for personal gain. It stemmed from logic: he meticulously examined the evidence, understood the suffering, identified the causes, and recognized that only clarity and bold confrontation of false arguments could bring justice. Judges acknowledged this. They respected him because his arguments were not emotional outbursts but logically structured pleas grounded in law and fact. In every case he led against the environmental harm caused by Vedanta, he embodied all this in abundance, never thinking twice before putting everything on the line.

To the villagers, Biswa’s work meant more than legal victories. It was an acknowledgment that their suffering was real, that their voices mattered. And all of this was possible because Biswa committed himself fully to social and environmental causes; case after case, life after life.

As I look back on all I’ve learned from Biswa and his contribution to Foil Vedanta, I realize that I was never merely working on a case with him; he was shaping my understanding of what it means to seek justice. He taught me that working both with and for the community is what truly matters even in the face of daunting odds. He had so many years of experience but he did not have any ego; he would humbly seek advice even from his juniors. This endeared him to even his fiercest critic and opponent, who would admire him equally for his passion and ethics. It is perhaps for this reason that many of his work friends hold him in the highest regard for both his good character and professional qualifications.

I will deeply cherish the lessons I learned from him and will always remember him for his advocacy, openness to questions and criticism, energetic demeanor, readiness to make a difference, genuine Duchenne smile, dedication to his family, and, of course, his legal knowledge.

It has been life’s cruel blow that such a hardworking man with integrity and purpose has been so abruptly taken away, for there was so much that he had to give and there was so much for all of us to gain. For his friends and colleagues, he is missed for being just a call away for any academic discussion because you can’t now ask him on how to approach a complex case. He is missed for one could rely on him to stand with you, shoulder to shoulder, to bail you out when you are in a spot at any time of the day or night. He is missed in our hearts for I have truly lost a friend who knew me and gave his frank and honest opinion.

Biswa is survived by his Mrs. Sudeshna Ratha (wife), Ms. Akshita Paramguru (daughter), his father Mr. Kishore Chandra Paramguru, his mother Mrs. Surekha Pani, and his brothers Mr. Atishranjan Paramguru and Mr. Chittaranjan Paramguru.

Aishwarya Sarkar, Chhattisgarh, India
Colleague and Friend of Biswa