Notwithstanding the claims made by the government that it was gathering evidence to prosecute Islamic preacher Zakir Naik under the anti-terror law, the Home Ministry has renewed the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of Mr. Naik’s NGO on August 19.
Though the renewal was done about 10 days ago, the Home Ministry on Thursday suspended three officials — an undersecretary and two section officers, who had given the go-ahead for the renewal.
The suspensions came after Mr. Naik’s spokesperson informed the media about the renewal in Mumbai.
Minister of State (Home) Kiren Rijiju confirmed the suspension of the three officials to The Hindu .
Automated process
Mr. Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), a Mumbai-based NGO’s FCRA licence was up for renewal along with applications from 20,000 other NGOs last month. An MHA official said since they had entirely moved to an online system, the renewal was done in an automated mode. An FCRA licence, which enables any NGO to receive foreign funds is given for five years.
The IRF was served a notice by the Home Ministry for alleged FCRA violations on August 8.
