NGOs have no fundamental right to receive unbridled foreign funds, Centre tells court

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 22

Asserting there was no fundamental right to receive unbridled foreign contributions without any regulation, the Centre has defended before the Supreme Court (SC) the Foreign Contribution Regulation (Amendment) Act (FCRA), 2020, saying it aimed to check fraudulent transfer of funds and misuse of foreign money to influence democratic polity and public institutions.

What the govt says

There exists no fundamental right under which any right, legal or otherwise, can be said to include the purported right to receive foreign contributions. Govt

While recognising NGOs’ role in the national development in an affidavit filed in the top court, the Centre said, “Genuine NGOs need not shy away from any regulatory compliance mandated under the FCRA.”

“There exists no fundamental right under which any right, legal or otherwise, can be said to include the purported right to receive foreign contributions... Right to life and liberty cannot include the right to receive unregulated foreign contributions,” the Centre said in its affidavit. The affidavit has been filed ahead of the October 28 hearing on three pleas — two of which challenged the validity of the amendment and the third one demanded stricter enforcement of the new FCRA norms that require a primary FCRA account to be opened exclusively in an SBI’s branch in New Delhi.