New Delhi: Supreme court On Tuesday, the response of the Center was sought for a petition Recent amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act have been challenged by the NGO, run by the former director of the Center for Social Services of the Catholic Diocese of Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, on the ground that it provided assistance to marginalized people. hindered the distribution of foreign funds.
A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar asked the Center to file its reply within three weeks on a joint petition filed by Noel Harper and Nigel Mills of Share and Care Foundation in Andhra Pradesh; and, Joseph Lizzie and Annamma Joachim of the National Workers Welfare Trust in Telangana.
The petitioners, through senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, submitted that some of the amendments have severely restricted the use of foreign funds, which are required by the NGOs to carry on their day-to-day activities, in other provision the accounts opened to them It has been made mandatory for receiving foreign contribution in SBI main branch in New Delhi.
Sankaranarayanan said there are around 23,000 NGOs in India that receive foreign funds and asking them to open accounts in the main branch of a particular bank in New Delhi was not against the norm. Criteria Applicable for other sectors, but it is also cumbersome and inconvenient for those who work in hinterland like the petitioners.
Additional Advocate General Sanjay Jain and Advocate Kanu Agarwal, appearing for the Central Government, submitted that the main complaint of the petitioners appears to be difficulty in assessing foreign funds and their distribution. “We will file our reply on all the issues raised in the petition,” Jain said. The bench adjourned further hearing till October 5.
The petitioners said that there is a need to open the mandate. FCRA The account at SBI’s main branch in New Delhi has left FCRA registration holders, who are living and working in remote areas, denied access to funds received through foreign contributions.
“There will be serious harm to the rights of such organizations/individuals if their interests and rights are not protected by the SC,” he said. Harper, a former director of social services for the Catholic Diocese of Vijayawada, founded the Care and Share Charitable Trust in 1997 with Carol Faison, which she claims has helped more than 10,000 children below the poverty level. Is. He said the foundation helps street children, children of sex workers, physically challenged children, shelter orphans, abandoned children and adolescents in observation homes.
Two NGOs are objecting to the amended Section 7 of the FCRA which is a Non government organizationentitled to receive money from abroad under FCRA, “to transfer such foreign contribution to any other person, unless such other person is also registered and has obtained a certificate or prior permission under FCRA”. Be.” The Center had justified the amendments to prevent misuse of foreign funds for conversion and misuse of funds for purposes other than charity.
A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar asked the Center to file its reply within three weeks on a joint petition filed by Noel Harper and Nigel Mills of Share and Care Foundation in Andhra Pradesh; and, Joseph Lizzie and Annamma Joachim of the National Workers Welfare Trust in Telangana.
The petitioners, through senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, submitted that some of the amendments have severely restricted the use of foreign funds, which are required by the NGOs to carry on their day-to-day activities, in other provision the accounts opened to them It has been made mandatory for receiving foreign contribution in SBI main branch in New Delhi.
Sankaranarayanan said there are around 23,000 NGOs in India that receive foreign funds and asking them to open accounts in the main branch of a particular bank in New Delhi was not against the norm. Criteria Applicable for other sectors, but it is also cumbersome and inconvenient for those who work in hinterland like the petitioners.
Additional Advocate General Sanjay Jain and Advocate Kanu Agarwal, appearing for the Central Government, submitted that the main complaint of the petitioners appears to be difficulty in assessing foreign funds and their distribution. “We will file our reply on all the issues raised in the petition,” Jain said. The bench adjourned further hearing till October 5.
The petitioners said that there is a need to open the mandate. FCRA The account at SBI’s main branch in New Delhi has left FCRA registration holders, who are living and working in remote areas, denied access to funds received through foreign contributions.
“There will be serious harm to the rights of such organizations/individuals if their interests and rights are not protected by the SC,” he said. Harper, a former director of social services for the Catholic Diocese of Vijayawada, founded the Care and Share Charitable Trust in 1997 with Carol Faison, which she claims has helped more than 10,000 children below the poverty level. Is. He said the foundation helps street children, children of sex workers, physically challenged children, shelter orphans, abandoned children and adolescents in observation homes.
Two NGOs are objecting to the amended Section 7 of the FCRA which is a Non government organizationentitled to receive money from abroad under FCRA, “to transfer such foreign contribution to any other person, unless such other person is also registered and has obtained a certificate or prior permission under FCRA”. Be.” The Center had justified the amendments to prevent misuse of foreign funds for conversion and misuse of funds for purposes other than charity.
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