CBI needs more powers to take up cases against NGOs
Hyderabad: According to CBI sources, a case that was booked against Anjuman Osmania Educational Association for FCRA violation has been pending since 1997. The accused, Mr Hameeduddin Hussain and Mr Raheemuddin Ansari of the association, allegedly violated Section 6 of FCRA wherein they received Rs 1.59 crore from abroad.
In another case, the E. Helen Charitable Trust was booked in 2003 and it ended in conviction in 2013.
“The two accused representing the Trust were fined by the court,” said a CBI source.
In India, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have the most NGOs registered under FCRA after Tamil Nadu. Most of them are into religious activities.
Of the 41,759 FCRA-registered NGOs in India, 5,353 are from Tamil Nadu and 5,210 are from undivided Andhra Pradesh. In 2011-12, united Andhra Pradesh received '1,258.52 crore.
Anantapur with 104 NGOs received Rs 369 crore followed by Hyderabad with Rs 351 crore and then by Krishna receiving Rs162 crore and Ranga Reddy '87 crore.
According to MHA, for offences involving a prime facie violation involving receipt of FC of an amount less than '1 crore, the case is referred to the Crime Branch of the state government for further investigations.
For offences involving Rs 1 crore or more, the case is referred to CBI for further investigation.
The FCRA monitoring wing of MHA is supposed to monitor the receipts and utilisation of funds. With the recent IB report, the state police has also decided to look into FCRA funding.
A CBI official said, “If the funding details are not furnished within 90 days after December 31of the receiving year, a fine of 2 per cent of the funding or '10,000 will be imposed. If it is between 90 to 180 days, three per cent will be fined and above 180 days, it will be 5 per cent or Rs 50,000 whichever is higher and Rs 500 for each day. For misrepresentation and falsification, imprisonment of three years to five years is the punishment.” He added, “CBI needs to be given more powers to take up cases.”
A Bench headed by Justice H.L. Dattu had granted three months after the CBI had informed that all states hadn’t furnished the details. The CBI had said that most of the NGOs were not filing IT returns.