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Wednesday, May 11, 2016

CBI registers case against MHA official Anand Joshi for missing files, graft

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against Anand Joshi, Under Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and some other unnamed persons for allegedly issuing Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) notices arbitrarily to several NGOs for financial gains.

The accused allegedly obtained bribe from some of these organisations through immovable assets and certain private companies, official sources said.

Searches were conducted at the accused official’s house in Indirapuram and two other residential premises where incriminating documents, property papers and cash of Rs 7.5 lakh were recovered, they said.

The CBI, in a statement, said, “It was alleged that the public servant while working as Under Secretary in the MHA, had been indulging in corrupt activities and arbitrarily issuing notices to large number of NGOs/Societies registered under FCRA who had been receiving significant amount of foreign contribution. The said officer had allegedly demanded and obtained illegal gratification from some of these organisations, which were laundered through various immovable assets as well as certain private companies.”

“Searches were conducted at four locations in the residential and office premises of accused and others. Cash of Rs 7.5 lakh and certain incriminating documents including files pertaining to the MHA and the Ministry of I&B were recovered from the premises of the said officer. The documents are being scrutinised,” the statement read further.

The issue came to the fore after files pertaining to the alleged FCRA violations by two NGOs run by social activist Teesta Setalvad went missing from the Home Ministry. The files were traced and restored in the FCRA division but CBI was asked to investigate the matter.

It was noticed that the files had gone missing when the Home Ministry took a decision to cancel FCRA registration of one of Setalvad's NGOs, Sabrang Trust, sources said.

Sabrang Trust's licence was suspended on September 9, 2015 by MHA and it asked for an explanation from the firm, failing which FCRA registration would have been cancelled in 180 days.

Setalvad filed her reply in October and the deadline given by MHA expired in March this year.

When Home Ministry officials found that the files had gone missing, they conducted an inquiry and identified the official who had taken away the files. He was summoned and the files were restored.

A senior Home Ministry official said the government has taken the matter very seriously and hence asked CBI to conduct a probe.

Source: http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india-cbi-registers-case-against-mha-official-anand-joshi-for-missing-files-graft-328457