The Union Home Ministry inspected the accounts of Lawyers’ Collective, a company owned by former Additional Solicitor-General Indira Jaising, for alleged discrepancies in utilisation of foreign funds.
Earlier, the Ministry had sent a questionnaire to Ms. Jaising, seeking details of her bank accounts and the utilisation certificate for the foreign funds received by her firm.
Ms. Jaising, who runs the human rights advocacy firm, is at present representing the Gujarat-based social activist Teesta Setalvad in the Supreme Court, who has also been charged with violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) norms.
Ms. Jaising’s husband, Anand Grover, had petitioned the Supreme Court on behalf of the 1993 Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon, hours before he was to be hanged at the Nagpur prison last year. When contacted, Ms. Jaising refused to comment.
A senior Home Ministry official said: “We had sent the firm a questionnaire and asked it to respond. It asked for three extensions and we gave it too. Last week, a Home Ministry team inspected the accounts of the firm at its office in Mumbai and Delhi. Based on our findings, we will decide on the future course of action.”
Ms. Jaising had filed a detailed reply with the Ministry.
“We were not satisfied with the response and we wanted to cross-check certain facts. That’s why we inspected the accounts,” the official said.
The Ministry had sent the notice on a complaint filed by Jaipur resident Raj Kumar Sharma in which he alleged that Lawyers’ Collective received funds from Ford Foundation, Levi Strauss Foundation and Open Society Foundation.
