Foreign funding: No Supreme Court relief for 6K NGOs

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, January 25

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to extend the lapsed Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences of 6,000 NGOs for their failure to adhere to norms prescribed for receiving foreign funds.

A Bench led by Justice AM Khanwilkar turned down the relief sought by petitioner Global Peace Initiative after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that 11,594 NGOs have already applied within the cut-off date and their FCRA registrations had been extended for the time being.

“In the light of this stand taken by the authorities, we don’t intend to pass any interim order as prayed. If the petitioners have any other suggestion, they may file a representation before the authorities which may be considered on its own merits by the authorities,” the Bench said. Mehta also questioned the locus standi of the petitioner, a US-based NGO, saying, “I don’t know what’s the purpose of this PIL. Something is amiss,” he said.

The FCRA requires NGOs to get a licence from the MHA authorising them to receive foreign funds. On behalf of the petitioner, senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde urged the Bench to extend the FCRA licences of NGOs if they applied for extension in the next two weeks. However, the Bench said the petitioner might submit a representation to the authorities which may consider it on merits.