The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday carried out searches on the premises of social activist Teesta Setalvad and other directors of her publishing company in connection with alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
According to the Union Home Ministry, though the company was not registered under the Act and had no prior permission from the Ministry, it received funds from foreign donors, which includes the Ford Foundation.
“After obtaining court warrants, the agency conducted searches on the official and residential premises of the directors of Sabrang Communications and Publishing Private Limited in Mumbai. The company is represented by directors, Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand, besides Peshimam Gulam Mohammed,” said a senior CBI official.
The agency claims to have seized some documents “confirming” allegations against the firm that it violated FCRA rules by receiving foreign funds without authorisation. According to MHA findings, donations to the tune of $2.9 lakh from the Ford Foundation were accepted without permission.
The company and its representatives have been booked for alleged conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and violations under various provisions of the FCRA-2010, and the FCRA-1976. The provisions provide for a maximum of five years’ imprisonment or fine, or both.
The CBI is currently scrutinising the company’s financial transactions for the period 2004-2014. Based on an MHA complaint, the agency registered the case on July 8 alleging violations by Sabrang Communications.
The Home Ministry earlier conducted an inquiry into the allegations and found that Ms. Setalvad’s organisations had received foreign funds of over Rs.1 crore between 2007-8 and 2014-15, and that the money was allegedly diverted from stated purposes in violation of FCRA provisions.
‘Political vendetta’Shubhomoy Sikdar reports from Mumbai:
“In our view, and we repeat, no laws have been broken by us. This is a continuation of the persecution and witch-hunt first launched by the Gujarat police in 2014 then under the dispensation that rules Delhi. The CBI has taken the same documents that we had voluntarily, on inspection, given the MHA (FCRA dept).
Over 25,000 pages of documentary evidence has been given to the Gujarat Police. When they could not succeed with the bizarre and desperate attempts to gain custody (February 2015), it was the Gujarat Government's Home Department that wrote to the MHA and the current round of the persecutions began,” Ms. Setalvad said in a statement late on Tuesday, claiming that CBI officials continued with the search operation late in the night.
“It is shameful political vendetta. The Zakia Jafri case begins its final hearings on July 27, 2015. The Naroda Patiya appeals involving Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi are being heard in the Gujarat High Court tomorrow. This is nothing but a bid to subvert the cause of public justice and ensure that no justice happens in these cases," she said.
