India, Oct. 4 -- A Delhi district court has declared an internal inquiry against a former board member of Transparency International India (TII) illegal and void, and ordered two defendants to pay him '10 lakh for damage to his professional reputation. The judgment, delivered on July 25, 2026, in Jitendra Kohli vs Transparency International India & Ors, has revived an old question: whether organisations that campaign for transparency and accountability apply the same standards to themselves.

District Judge-07, Richa Gusain Solanki, of the South-East District Court at Saket partly decreed Kohli's suit. She held that a one-member inquiry committee set up by TII, and its report dated December 15, 2014, were contrary to the organisation's ru...