Anand Joshi, an under secretary in the home ministry, who is being investigated by CBI, mysteriously went missing on Wednesday leaving a note behind.
The case of the 'missing' home ministry official linked to the investigation of activist Teesta Setalvad's NGO Sabrang Trust facing corruption allegations points to a rot within the ministry after it cracked down on foreign funded organisations soon after Narendra Modi-led NDA government took over in 2014.
Anand Joshi, an under secretary in the home ministry, who is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), mysteriously went missing on Wednesday leaving a note behind addressed to his wife claiming he was facing mental harassment and had made too many enemies while serving the nation.
Joshi was called for questioning to CBI headquarters on Wednesday facing corruption charges while dealing with foreign funded NGOs.
After Joshi's case the functioning officials in the Foreigner's Division that deals with the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) that regulates foreign funded NGOs are also under the scanner.
A home ministry spokesperson did not wish to comment on the matter as investigations are on.
MHA had cracked the whip on several foreign-funded NGOs, including a high-profile international environment activist group cancelling its FCRA registration.
It is alleged that Joshi in November 2015 served 60-70 notices to NGOs arbitrarily without taking proper approvals. Officials who smell a rat suspect the muck could be deep-rooted.
"Many other officers are also under scanner and all files related to FCRA clearances are being accounted for," said an official. "Rules on file movement are also being reviewed," the official added.
Sources say Joshi was later transferred to another division following the notices issued by him. However, there was no clarity whether he could have done so on his own without keeping his seniors informed. An undersecretary is at the bottom of the bureaucratic hierarchy in the central government.
It was the Sabrang Trust missing file that the blew the lid off the suspected dubious working only in March 2016 when the ministry could not trace the file as it prepared cancel FCRA registration notice to the NGO.
Sabrang, an NGO run by Teesta and her husband Javed Anand has been under home ministry scanner for various FCRA violations.
It suspected that he stole the file in December; however officials say it was recovered from Joshi in April. Joshi, on his part has claimed that file was not in his possession.
Facing charges of corruption, Joshi has also hit back making serious allegations against additional secretary BK Prasad who heads the foreigner's division. Prasad calls the charges "rubbish and baseless."
"The CBI is investigating the matter and the truth will come out," he said. Joshi had claimed that he was pressured by his superior to give clean chit to some of the NGOs who were served FCRA notices, including the Ford Foundation. He was last seen around 2am, following which he went to sleep, his wife Minakshi Sharma said at their residence in Indirapuram. "When I woke up around 7.30am, the main door was ajar and he (Joshi) wasn't there. I later found the note he left behind," she said.
Police teams rushed to the senior officer's house and his wife's statement was recorded. The police also took a copy of the note which Joshi left behind, a senior police official said.
Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/governments-ngo-crackdown-under-scanner/1/666157.html
The case of the 'missing' home ministry official linked to the investigation of activist Teesta Setalvad's NGO Sabrang Trust facing corruption allegations points to a rot within the ministry after it cracked down on foreign funded organisations soon after Narendra Modi-led NDA government took over in 2014.
Anand Joshi, an under secretary in the home ministry, who is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), mysteriously went missing on Wednesday leaving a note behind addressed to his wife claiming he was facing mental harassment and had made too many enemies while serving the nation.
Joshi was called for questioning to CBI headquarters on Wednesday facing corruption charges while dealing with foreign funded NGOs.
After Joshi's case the functioning officials in the Foreigner's Division that deals with the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) that regulates foreign funded NGOs are also under the scanner.
A home ministry spokesperson did not wish to comment on the matter as investigations are on.
MHA had cracked the whip on several foreign-funded NGOs, including a high-profile international environment activist group cancelling its FCRA registration.
It is alleged that Joshi in November 2015 served 60-70 notices to NGOs arbitrarily without taking proper approvals. Officials who smell a rat suspect the muck could be deep-rooted.
"Many other officers are also under scanner and all files related to FCRA clearances are being accounted for," said an official. "Rules on file movement are also being reviewed," the official added.
Sources say Joshi was later transferred to another division following the notices issued by him. However, there was no clarity whether he could have done so on his own without keeping his seniors informed. An undersecretary is at the bottom of the bureaucratic hierarchy in the central government.
It was the Sabrang Trust missing file that the blew the lid off the suspected dubious working only in March 2016 when the ministry could not trace the file as it prepared cancel FCRA registration notice to the NGO.
Sabrang, an NGO run by Teesta and her husband Javed Anand has been under home ministry scanner for various FCRA violations.
It suspected that he stole the file in December; however officials say it was recovered from Joshi in April. Joshi, on his part has claimed that file was not in his possession.
Facing charges of corruption, Joshi has also hit back making serious allegations against additional secretary BK Prasad who heads the foreigner's division. Prasad calls the charges "rubbish and baseless."
"The CBI is investigating the matter and the truth will come out," he said. Joshi had claimed that he was pressured by his superior to give clean chit to some of the NGOs who were served FCRA notices, including the Ford Foundation. He was last seen around 2am, following which he went to sleep, his wife Minakshi Sharma said at their residence in Indirapuram. "When I woke up around 7.30am, the main door was ajar and he (Joshi) wasn't there. I later found the note he left behind," she said.
Police teams rushed to the senior officer's house and his wife's statement was recorded. The police also took a copy of the note which Joshi left behind, a senior police official said.
Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/governments-ngo-crackdown-under-scanner/1/666157.html
