The Government on Wednesday suspended with immediate effect Union Home Ministry official Anand Joshi, who was arrested by CBI this week for allegedly issuing Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) notices arbitrarily to several NGOs for financial gains.
Joshi, who had disappeared last week from his home in Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, was picked up from Tilak Nagar area of West Delhi on Sunday and taken to the CBI headquarters for questioning. Subsequently, he was arrested by the agency.
The case was slapped against Joshi and some other unnamed persons for allegedly indulging in corrupt practices and arbitrarily issuing notices to several NGOs, registered under FCRA, which were receiving significant amount of foreign contributions.
Joshi has rejected the charge and instead accused his senior, Additional Secretary BK Prasad, of pressuring him to give a clean chit to NGOs. Prasad, however, denied the charges.
The matter came to light after files pertaining to alleged FCRA violations by two NGOs run by Setalvad went missing from the Home Ministry. The files were traced and restored to the FCRA division but CBI was asked to investigate the matter.