The Supreme Court today reserved its order on a plea challenging the validity of the 2020 amendment brought into the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to regulate foreign funds received by NGOs.
The bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and C.T. Ravikumar reserved the order. The Apex Court has to decide whether changes made through the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Act, 2020 by amending the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 are constitutional or not.
The Court said that there is a need to ensure that the funds received by NGOs receiving funds from foreign countries are not misused. It is used only for the purpose it has been achieved.
The petitioners said 19,000 NGOs have been invalidated. This shows that the system is working. The petitioners further said that they have not challenged the original FCRA but only the amendments made to it. Noel Harper, chairman of Care and Share Charitable Trust, and Jeevan Jyoti Charitable Trust have challenged the amendment of FCRA, saying it is in violation of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
The petitioners contended the compulsion to open an account with an SBI branch is clearly arbitrary and violates the right to equality and serves no reasonable purpose. Apart from this, the petitioners also argued that the amendment lacks legitimate purpose and will have an adverse effect on NGOs.