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Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Anand Joshi Sent Notices to At Least 14 NGOs in Oct-Nov

PROBING MISSION CBI gets 5 days to examine MHA undersecretary, alleges during his stint in MHA Joshi indulged in corrupt practices & laundered money into 3 media cos

As many as 14 NGOs, including Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and India HIVAIDS Alliance, were among the trusts `arbitrarily' issued notices by home ministry undersecretary Anand Joshi during October-November 2015, said officials.

Joshi, who was arrested and remanded to five days CBI custody, had also issued notices to Sunita Narain's Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). CBI alleged that during his stint in MHA Joshi had indulged in corrupt practices and laundered money into three media companies -Sreejak Media, Sreejak Radio Media and Sreejak Outdoor Media -he had opened in name of his wife Minakshi Joshi.

A senior MHA official told ET: “Joshi was in-charge of the monitoring unit of FCRA and besides the 14 identified, he may have issued notices to many more NGOs.We are in the process of compiling the list and handing it over the same to CBI for investigations. It is for the agency to establish whether there was any quid pro quo between him and NGOs.“

Other NGOs that were issued notices include Maha Bodhi Society of India, Kolkata, and All India Primary Teachers Federation, New Delhi.Gurgaon-based PHFI was issued no tices in November 2015 for alleged FCRA violation worth `552 crore, while Indian HIVAIDs Alliance was accused of FCRA breach worth `165 crore. Another NGO allegedly harassed by Joshi, as per MHA records, was the Sacred Heart Educational Trust, Kolkata, which received a sum of nearly `11 crore.

Joshi had issued notices to this trust weeks before his removal from FCRA wing in December last year after inspection of their documents, added a home ministry official on the condition of anonymity. According to MHA records, the accounts of Delhi-based NGO, Act Now for Harmony and Democracy were inspected by Joshi on November 2, 2015, for alleged FCRA violations of `5.27 crore.

The arrested bureaucrat, however, alleged senior additional secretary (foreigners) BK Prasad press u r e d h i m t o f avo u r Fo r d Foundation, another NGO which was under home ministry scanner for FCRA violations. Prasad had denied the allegations and has complained to CBI that several files related to NGOs had gone missing from the MHA. The MHA alleged it was Joshi who took away Teesta Setalvad's Sabrang Trust files pertaining to FCRA violations.

Source: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31816&articlexml=Anand-Joshi-Sent-Notices-to-At-Least-14-17052016002045