The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) licence of Sabrang, an NGO run by controversial activist Teesta Setalvad, was cancelled on Thursday by the Government for violation of various provisions of law.
Setalvad and her husband were found misusing the funds the NGO collected for the rehabilitation of Gujarat riot victims for personal purposes, including purchase of jewellery, shopping, fine dining and alcohol. The probe also found that the money received for the NGO was diverted through credit cards for personal purposes.
In an order, the Home Ministry said during inspections, various irregularities were found in Sabrang Trust, where Teesta and her spouse Javed Anand work as chief functionaries or trustees, and after careful examination of the NGO’s response, its registration was cancelled.
“... In exercise of powers conferred by clauses (b), (c) and (d) of sub-section (1) of Section 14 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010, the Central Government hereby cancels the permanent registration of Sabrang Trust with immediate effect,” the order said.
According to the Home Ministry, Teesta and Anand are also working as directors, co-editors, printers and publishers in the company namely Sabrang Communications & Publishing Pvt limited (SCPPl) and published a magazine called Communalism Combat.
“Sabrang Trust spent Rs 50 lakh for SCPPl, clearly violating the mandate of the FCRA. By this action, the NGO has not only unauthorisedly utilised the foreign contribution for an unregistered entity but also that entity being a self-owned media and publication company, utilised that amount for activities totally prohibited by FCRA,” it said.
The order said the NGO transferred an amount of Rs 2.46 lakh from its foreign contribution designated account to Sabrang Trust domestic account, thus mixing domestic and foreign funds and violating the rules.
Sabrang Trust made direct payments of approximately Rs 12 lakh from the FCRA-designated account to Citibank and Union Bank of India on account of credit cards belonging to Teesta and Anand respectively.
The cards are in the name of the individuals and the above payments of the foreign contribution shall be treated to have been used for personal gain, the Home Ministry said.
In 2010-11, the NGO incurred 64.23 per cent of the foreign contribution on administrative expenditure and during 2011-12, it incurred 55.14 per cent on administrative expenses without obtaining the prior approval of the Central Government, which is in violation of FCRA. FCRA rules state that if an NGO’s administrative expenses exceed 50 per cent of total foreign donations, the organisation needs an approval from the Home Ministry.
Another NGO run by Teesta and Anand, Citizens for Justice and Peace, has already been put under prior permission category, thus making it mandatory for the organisation to take permission from the Home Ministry before accepting or utilising any foreign contributions.
Following a recommendation of the Home Ministry, the CBI has already registered a case and launched a probe against Sabrang Communication and Publishing Pvt limited for allegedly accepting and utilizing foreign contribution in violation of FCRA.