CBI appeal:SC seeks responses from NGO

NEWDELHI:The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notices and sought response from senior advocates and founding members of NGO, Lawyers Collective, Indira Jaising and Anand Grover on a Central Bureau of Investigation appeal challenging the Bombay high court order protecting them from any coercive action (including arrest) in a Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA ) case.

Issuing notice to the advocates, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, and Justices Aniruddha Bose and Krishna Murari, refused to vacate the protection granted to the advocates by the High court.

The Central Bureau of Investigation on October 18 approached the Supreme Court challenging the July 25 order of the Bombay high court.Lawyer’s Collective approached the Bombay HC seeking quashing of FIR. The high court then directed CBI not to take any coercive action against the organisation.

Central Bureau of Investigation registered a case on June 18 against Lawyer’s Collective for allegedly violating the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) on the basis of a complaint from the ministry of home affairs (MHA), which has pointed to several alleged discrepancies in the utilisation of foreign aid received by the NGO. Its offices in Delhi and Mumbai were also raided by the agency.

At that time, Indira Jaising said: “Mr Grover and I are being targeted for the human rights work that we have done over the years”. The organisation, which was founded in 1981, states on its website that it “is a group of lawyers with a mission to empower and change the status of marginalised groups through the effective use of law, and an engagement in human rights advocacy.