FCRA licence suspension: Delhi HC allows think-tank CPR to use 25% of unutilised funds

New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Monday allowed a plea of think-tank, the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), moved in the main plea for the release of 25 per cent of unutilised funds in the fixed deposits.

In August, the court had issued notice on the main plea filed by the think tank against the suspension of its licence under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) by the Central government earlier this year.

Justice Subramonium Prasad had also directed the Centre to make a decision on CPR's application for the release of 25 per cent of funds, which the think tank had moved after the FCRA licence suspension.

It was CPR’s case that its employees weren't paid for the last six months and sought release of funds as an interim measure to enable the think tank to pay salaries.

CPR’s counsel Senior Advocate Arvind Datar said: “This is extremely sad. It is not an ordinary NGO. This is India’s number one think tank. We started in 1973. We come under the CAG audit and the Home Ministry audit. The Home Ministry completed its audit in February 2022. The CAG audit was completed on 22.04.2022.”

He added: “All allegations in the show cause notice are of the year 2018, 2019, etc. Everything has been examined by CAG. Nothing wrong was found.”

The Central government, however, opposed the application and said that the unutilised amount means an amount that is unspent and funds in fixed deposits are outside its ambit.

During the hearing earlier, the Centre's counsel had mentioned that after the suspension order was passed on February 27, CPR received a show cause notice on August 1 and responded on August 25.

CPR then submitted an application under Rule 14 while the FCRA licence was suspended.

The counsel for Centre had stated that the government is following the procedure diligently and is examining the matter carefully.

Datar had said that all allegations in the show cause notice relate to the years 2018 and 2019, and audits by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Home Ministry had found no wrongdoing.

Regarding the application seeking an interim stay of the suspension order, Datar had said that CPR's operations had come to a halt due to the lack of foreign contributions.

Justice Prasad had asked the Union Government to decide on CPR's application for the release of 25 per cent funds, pointing out that five months had passed without a decision being made.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs suspended CPR's FCRA licence following surveys conducted by the Income Tax Department on the organisation's premises.

The suspension lasts for 180 days during which the organisation cannot receive foreign funding, and the foreign funding account's money can only be used with prior approval from the Union government.