New Delhi: Amid reports that the Centre may ask the CBI to probe foreign funding of NGOs, the investigating agency has made it clear that nothing much can be done unless the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) is amended. At this juncture, for any action to be taken under this Act, the CBI has to get clearance from the MHA.
The CBI had to recently close the only case registered under FCRA violation against a Haryana-based private organisation, working in the field of export promotion, as the MHA didn’t to grant sanction to examine persons associated with the firm.
“In FCRA cases, the CBI cannot initiate action even against a private person without the MHA’s nod,” a senior official said.
The CBI, in March 2012, had booked the firm for allegedly receiving foreign funds worth Rs 1.5 crore in 2005-06 without informing the MHA.
This was the first case registered by the CBI in 2012 from the list of 20 NGOs provided by the MHA.
Most agency officials are of the opinion that merely referring FCRA violation cases to the CBI will not work unless the agency is given the sanctions in time.
