New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday conducted searches at two locations linked to former IAS officer and social activist Harsh Mander in alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), ThePrint has learnt.
Sources in the agency told ThePrint that searches were being conducted since Friday morning at the residence and office address of Mander after an FIR was filed Wednesday against him and the Centre for Equity Studies (CES). Mander sits on the CES’s governing board. He was booked by the probe agency Wednesday.
“Author who is on the governing board of Centre for Equity Studies Harsh Mander being raided by CBI. His house and office are being searched in FCRA violations case,” a CBI source told ThePrint.
“After order from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), a preliminary enquiry was launched last year and based on its findings, a regular case was registered against CES and Mander this Wednesday,” the source added.
The MHA had in June last year suspended the FCRA licence of Mander’s think tank on account of violation of Sections 3 and 8 of the FCRA.
Section 3 bars individuals associated with registered newspapers, including correspondents, columnists, cartoonists, editors, owners, printers, and publishers from accepting foreign contributions. Section 8 dictates the correct use of funds recovered as FCRA contributions.
“Harsh Mander, the trustee, has accepted foreign contributions amounting to Rs 12,64,671 during the financial year 2011-’12 to 2017-’18 as professional receipts/ payments from the FCRA account of the association [Centre for Equity Studies]. This is in violation of Sections 3 and 8 of the Act and conditions of registration under Section 12(4)(a)(vi) of the Act,” the MHA had said in its order.
Meanwhile, a CBI spokesperson in a statement issued late Friday said that the NGO allegedly diverted funds from its FCRA account and also transferred approximately Rs 32,71,000 from its FCRA account to the bank account of an individual, which were clear cases of violation of FCRA’s provisions.
The agency said that Mander is chairman-cum-secretary of the NGO and both have been booked for violating the terms of FCRA, 2010.
“It has been alleged that the NGO had transferred Rs 32,71,915/- (approx.), other than salary/wages/remuneration, from its FCRA account into the account of individual(s) during 2020-21 in violation of the provisions of FCRA, 2010. It has also been alleged that the NGO had also diverted funds from its FCRA account through the firm(s) in violation of the provisions of FCRA, 2010,” the spokesman added.
Trouble brewing
Before suspending the FCRA licence, the MHA had also recommended a CBI probe into the allegations of FCRA violations against Mander’s NGO Aman Biradari, which was found in violation of the FCRA.
In 2022, the CES came into trouble after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) complained to Delhi Police alleging that the two children’s homes run by CES were guilty of financial irregularities.
Then, the Enforcement Directorate took cognisance of the FIR filed by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police and raided locations linked to Mander.
This is an updated version of the report.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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