Foreign funds: Centre asked to look into accounts of parties

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday granted sixmonths time to the Centre to look into accounts of political parties, including the Congress and the BJP, for traces of foreign funds.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar gave the “last opportunity” to the Ministry of Home Affairs for compliance of its 2014 judgement, in which the high court had found both parties flouting the norms of the FCRA by accepting donations from Indian subsidiaries of Uk-based Vedanta Resources.

Section 4 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) prohibits a political party or legislature from accepting foreign contributors.

On March 28, 2014, the high court had ordered the Election Commission and the Ministry of Home Affairs to look into the accounts of political parties and take action within six months. SRINAGAR: Kailash Satyarthi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for waging a peaceful struggle to protect children from being exploited as labour, assured them on Monday that he would make all efforts to ensure their safety. He urged the children in Jammu and Kashmir to stay away from violence, and said “together, we will win this battle”.

Without naming separatists and militants active in the Valley, he asked them not use children to achieve their goals.

“Children...can achieve everything with education. They are your children and our children too,” he said.

Satyarthi is on a Bharat Yatra to spread awareness about crimes against children. Last week, he held several programmes in Uttar Pradesh. He had begun his Yatra from Kanyakumari. In Srinagar, he addressed students drawn from various schools. “I will knock the doors of governments in Delhi and in Srinagar. Tell them to allow children to study and rise as high as they can,” he said at the gathering. “I will make appeals and prayers for you and need be, I will struggle too, provided you stay away from violence.” Satyarthi was born in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh. In 1980, he left teaching and founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan, which has freed thousands of children from slave-like conditions.