Foreign Funded NGOs Arrange Paid Protestors To Stall Critical Development Projects: Centre Tells SC

The Centre has told the Supreme Court that NGOs like Environic Trust, CPR, Oxfam India, LIFE and Care India are funded by foreign entities for the activities that cannot be said to be genuine

The Centre has told the Supreme Court that foreign entities are funding Indian NGOs and trusts to obstruct critical public projects and undermine India’s economic interests. The Centre has said in its affidavit that NGOs like Environic Trust CPR, Oxfam India, LIFE and Care India are funded by foreign entities for the activities that cannot be said to be genuine.

In its affidavit in the top court in the open tax reassessment proceedings against Environics Trust, the Centre has said that NGOs like Centre for Policy Research, Oxfam India, Care India for Solution for Sustainable Development and LIFE were found to have close relations with each other and their main persons are interlinked. These NGOs and trusts are directly or indirectly involved in agitation or litigation beyond their objects the Centre has told the apex court.

According to the affidavit, the Environics Trust got funding from Both ENDS, Greenpeace and PYWP. According to the Centre, these foreign entities influenced the Trust's activities against public projects in India and abroad.

The I-T department has told the top court that Environics Trust funded protests against development projects in a village in Odisha under the guise of distribution of relief packages to households. The affidavit said that it is found that Environics Trust has transferred an amount of Rs 1,250 per individual from its ICICI bank account. And these individuals were involved in the said protests and named in the FIR registered in this regard.

The Centre has alleged that the Trust arranged paid protesters to oppose critical development projects and more than 90% of its income came from foreign donations, indicating a systematic effort by foreign entities.

The Centre told the court that a survey action was carried out in Environic Trust along with some other trusts like CPR, Oxfam India, LIFE and CISSD. The Centre further said that all these NGOs are funded by foreign entities for the activities that cannot be said to be genuine or in line with the objectives of these institutions.

The Centre has told the court that there has been an agreement between ‘Oxfam India’ and Environics Trust, which shows that Oxfam India funded the Trust to mobilise communities with the help of local unions against coal industries. The Centre pointed to a MoU between 'Both ENDS'  and said that the Trust was behind the protests in Odisha. It further said that foreign entities Fair Green and Global Alliance were behind the protest.

The case of Environic Trust was heard by the bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta. The bench had sought the Income-Tax department's response in the plea moved by the Trust against a revenue department order seeking to impose a tax liability on Rs 2.23 crore it received in 2016-17 on the grounds that the objectives of the Trust were not followed.

Earlier the Delhi High Court rejected the NGO’s plea and pulled it up for suppressing "material facts" regarding its registration cancellation. The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences of several NGOs were revoked as part of Centre's crackdown on foreign funding to them. 

The top court asked the Trust to cooperate and said that the tax reassessment proceedings may continue but final orders shall not be passed without the order of the Supreme Court.