Only about 10 per cent of the over 22 lakh non-government organisations scanned by the Central Bureau of Investigation, on the Supreme Court’s directions, file their annual income and expenditure statements with the authorities they are registered with.
This was revealed in an analysis on NGOs functioning in 20 States and six Union Territories filed by the agency before the court on Monday.
The CBI, represented by Additional Solicitor-General P.S. Patwalia, urged the court to impose a pre-condition on NGOs that they first submit their balance sheets, including income and expenditure statements, for the preceding three years before further grants were allowed.
However, a Bench, led by Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu, said an order could be given only after an extensive hearing.
The CBI should first complete compiling data on NGOs and argue its case in detail. “Then we will see why NGOs cannot be asked to maintain complete records,” he orally observed.
The CBI was acting on the Supreme Court’s order of September 2, 2013 on a PIL petition, filed by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, alleging misuse of funds by Anna Hazare’s NGO Hind Swaraj Trust.
The court had expanded the scope of the petition and directed the CBI to file the entire list of NGOs in the country registered under the Societies Registration Act.
