FCRA violation probe: CBI case against rights activist Harsh Mander

The CBI has registered a case of alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act against human rights activist Harsh Mander and his NGO and searched his premises on Friday, officials said.

The Home Ministry had stated that Section 3 of the FCRA prohibits acceptance of foreign contribution by correspondents, columnists, cartoonists, editor, owner, printer, publisher of a registered newspaper but Mander has been writing columns and articles in newspapers and web portals.

The CBI has registered the FIR against Mander and the Centre for Equity Studies (CES) for violation of various provisions of the FCRA.

Mander, former member of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council during the erstwhile UPA government, is the founder of NGO Aman Biradari.

According to the Home Ministry, Aman Biradari is non-FCRA organisation.

The CES has acted as conduit for the transfer of foreign contribution to non-FCRA associations, it alleged.

"A report by the Centre for Equity Studies in collaboration with Delhi Research Group and 'Karwan-E-Mohabbat' was published by CES in June 2020. Karwan-e Mohabbat is a campaign run under the non-FCRA association Aman Biradari Trust (ABT), which is closely associated with Centre of Equity Studies and Harsh Mander," the Home Ministry alleged.