Today,22nd April, The High Court requested the CBI’s response regarding activist Harsh Mander’s plea. The plea seeks to quash an FIR alleging FCRA violations against Mander. The court’s decision hinges on the CBI’s input regarding the matter.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court asked for the CBI’s response to a plea by human rights activist Harsh Mander and his NGO, seeking to quash an FIR filed against them for allegedly violating the FCRA. Justice Vikas Mahajan issued notice to the CBI and requested a status report before the next hearing, with assurances from the CBI that Mander won’t be arrested for now.
Senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishna, representing Mander and his NGO Centre of Equity Studies (CES), urged the court to grant interim relief from coercive action.
Advocate Anupam Sharma, speaking for the CBI, assured that no coercive action would be taken against the activist until the next hearing. He clarified that the agency hasn’t arrested him thus far and no plans to do so currently, noting that such arrests uncommon for the CBI in these situations. The CBI filed the FIR in February against Mander and his Delhi-based NGO CES after a preliminary enquiry based on a complaint from the Union home ministry, citing alleged FCRA violations. Searches carried out at two Delhi locations, including Mander’s official and residential premises, according to a CBI statement from February. Mander was previously a member of the Sonia Gandhi led National Advisory Council during the UPA government.
According to advocate Sarim Naved, who filed the plea,
“The FIR was registered after a six-month-long preliminary enquiry without any cognizable offence on the part of the petitioner.”
The petition stated that the FIR is ambiguous and appears to filed “without any application of mind” to the elements of the penal provisions. It warned that without the relief sought, the petitioners would face ongoing harassment and intimidation, but granting the relief would not harm the agency. The CBI initiated a preliminary enquiry on April 13 last year based on a complaint from the home ministry against the Centre for Equity Studies, Aman Biradari Trust, Oxfam India, and Action Aid Association for alleged FCRA violations.
According to the FIR, the inquiry uncovered that the CES founded and registered as a trust with Mander serving as its chairman.
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As per the CBI statement,
“It is alleged that the NGO transferred Rs 32.71 lakh, excluding salary/wages/remuneration, from its FCRA account to individual(s) during 2020-21, contravening FCRA, 2010. Additionally, the NGO is accused of diverting funds amounting to Rs 10 lakh from its FCRA account through firm(s), also violating FCRA, 2010.”
The inquiry discovered that, allegedly through its chairman Mander, the CES redirected funds from FCRA accounts, breaching the act as stated in the FIR. CES’ FCRA certification suspended by the home ministry on June 14 last year for six months.