New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday searched for a Central Response to the Petition by NGOs, one was run by the former Director of the Catholic Diocesan Social Service Center in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, challenging the recent amendments for foreign contributions (regulations) inhibiting the disbursement of foreign funds to provide assistance to be marginalized.
Judge A M Khanwilkar, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar requested a center to submit his response within three weeks to the joint petition submitted by Noel Harper and Nigel Mills from Andhra Pradesh; And, Joseph Lizy and Annamma Joachim of the trust of the welfare of national workers in Telangana.
The Petitioner through Senior Advocate Gopal Shankararaayan said that while some amendments greatly limited the use of foreign funds, required by NGOs to carry out their daily activities, other provisions mandate them to accept foreign contributions in the account opened by the SBI main branch in New Delhi.
Shankaranarayanana said that there were around 23,000 NGOs in India who received foreign funds and asked them to open accounts in the main branch of a particular bank in New Delhi not only on variants with standard norms applied to other fields but also not complicated and disappointed for those who operate inland, like the applicant.
Appearing for the Union Government, General Lawyers General Sanjay Jain and Kanu Agrawal Advocates said that the main complaints of the applicants seem to be difficult to assess foreign funds and their disbursement.
“We will submit our response to all the problems raised in the petition,” Jain said when the bench was postponing further hearing to October 5.
The Petitioner said the mandate to open a FCRA account in the SBI main branch in New Delhi has left the FCRA registration holder, who lives and work in remote areas, loss access to funds received through foreign contributions.
“Grave losses will be caused by the rights of the organization / individual, if their interests and rights are not saved by SC,” they said.
Harper, former Social Director of the Vijayawada Catholic Diocesan Social Service, along with Carol Faison had established care and shared charity trust in 1997, which until now, they claimed, has helped more than 10,000 children below the poverty level.
They said the foundation helped street children, children of sex workers, children who were physically challenged, the children of the palm, children left behind and helped teenagers in observation houses.
Both NGO objected with the 7 FCRA section which prohibits NGOs, entitled to FCRA to receive money from abroad, to transfer “the foreign contributions to others unless other people are also registered and have been given a certificate or obtained by previous permits below FCRA.
“This center has justified the amendment to stop abuse of foreign funds for religious conversion and stop misuse of funds for purposes other than charity.
SC looking for a response center on the challenge for the FCRA norm
