NGOs getting Government aid have come under judicial scrutiny, with the Supreme Court asking the CBI to provide details about such registered organisations and their financial statements on a PIl seeking probe into alleged embezzling of funds. A Bench comprising Justices Hl Dattu and MY Eqbal sought a detailed affidavit within eight weeks by collecting balance sheets and annual reports of over 800 NGOs.
“CBI director is directed to file names of all NGOs registered under the Societies Registration Act and if they have filed balancesheets before the concerned authority,” the bench said. The apex court expanded the scope of the PIl which was filed in 2011 against an NGO, Hind Swaraj Trust, run by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare. When advocate Manohar lal Sharma, who has filed the PIl, raised the issue of alleged siphoning off of funds granted by the Government to Hazare’s trust in 1995, the Bench said he should not be concerned with one NGO.
“Why are you concerned only about one person. We are not concerned about individuals and we would go step by step,” the Bench observed.