New Delhi, June 17 -- The British government acted lawfully when it banned the protest group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, the Court of Appeal in London ruled on Monday.

Chief Justice Sue Carr said the group went far beyond staging non-violent demonstrations to launch destructive attacks on defense companies, banks and a military base.

"It is not, as claimed, a direct action civil disobedience protest group like the suffragettes, operating transparently in the open," Carr said. "It is a covert organization which operates with secret cells to avoid the detection and prosecution of those using violence to destroy property and cause injury."

The ruling overturned a February decision by three senior High Court judges who fo...