New Delhi. The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the validity of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment (FCRA) Act, 2020, which has provisions for imposing new conditions on receipt and use of funds by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Justice A. M. Khanwilkar upheld the 2020 amendments made in the FCRA Act, 2010. The detailed decision in the matter will be uploaded on the apex court’s website later in the day.
The Center had told the Supreme Court that there is no fundamental right to receive unbridled foreign contribution without any regulation, while defending the amendments made in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2020.
The MHA emphasized that the objective of the FCRA is to ensure that foreign contributions do not adversely affect the functioning of parliamentary institutions, political associations and educational and other voluntary organizations as well as individuals in India.
The petitioners had challenged the amendments, including the newly added Sections 12 and 17, which said that the foreign contribution should be credited to the FCRA account maintained with the specified branch of the scheduled bank, which was subsequently transferred to the State Bank of India, New Delhi. Delhi branch was notified.
The petitioners claimed that the amendments were arbitrary and stringent, making the functioning of NGOs extremely difficult.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in a 355-page affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, said the Parliament has enacted the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, which lays down a clear legislative policy of strict control on foreign contributions for certain activities in the country.
“The law also prohibited the acceptance and use of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality for any activity prejudicial to the national interest and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto,” the MHA said. The affidavit was disposed of by Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India, who was assisted by lawyer Kanu Agarwal.
Noel Harper and Nigel Mills of Share and Care Foundation in Andhra Pradesh and Joseph Lizzie and Annamma Joachim of National Workers Welfare Trust in Telangana are the petitioners in this case.
—AnyTV News
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