The Supreme Court will tomorrow hear a petition challenging the Centre’s decision against renewing the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licenses of around 6,000 non-profit organisations (NGOs).
A bench led by Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and C.T. Ravikumar agreed to hear the matter tomorrow. Today before the bench, Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde, who appeared on behalf of petitioner Global Peace Initiative, urged the court to direct the Centre to exempt humanitarian organisations from the purview of FCRA, which is a mandatory requirement for NGOs to receive funds from abroad, till Covid-19 continues to be a notified disaster.
The petition contended that the cancellation of FCRA licence will affect the relief efforts being done for those affected by Novel Coronavirus.
It said during the second wave of Covid-19, several NGOs and industry bodies had sought exemption under FCRA, which was provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in exercise of powers conferred under Article 50.
The same situation existed today, noted the plea, adding that in such a situation, there was a lack of discretion on part of the government over not renewing the licence.
About 6,000 NGOs have filed a petition in the Supreme Court regarding non-renewal of FCRA licence by the MHA, the petitioners noted.
The plea further sought quashing of the December 31, 2021 MHA order, which said that the NGOs, whose application for renewal of licence of FCRA has been rejected, will not be able to take money from abroad.
Apart from this, the petition also sought a direction to the Supreme Court to maintain the licence of organisations to receive funds from abroad till the time of Coronavirus pandemic.
On the Mother Teresa-founded Missionaries of Charities, the home ministry had said that its renewal application was rejected for failing to meet eligibility conditions. However, it was added to the list of 1,030 NGOs eligible to receive foreign funding in West Bengal afterwards.
“In the absence of such renewed and relatively more onerous registration licenses, the NGOs have been prohibited from receiving and/or utilising foreign contributions. The foreign contributions, in fact, are generally of vital importance for the smooth operations of such organisations. Any prohibition on receiving and/or utilising such foreign contributions severely and unfairly impacts the financial viability of running such organisations, and is violative of fundamental rights of such organisations,” the petition said.