NGO Consultant

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Odisha NGO Consultancy Services

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

MHA official Anand Joshi booked for issuing FCRA notices to NGOs

Anand Joshi, an Under Secretary in the home ministry, was being questioned by the sleuths of Special Crime division of the CBI. The case was slapped against Joshi and some other unnamed persons for allegedly indulging in corrupt practices and arbitrarily issuing notices to several NGOs.

The CBI arrested home ministry official Anand Joshi, who had disappeared after being summoned by the agency four days back, in connection with a case of allegedly issuing FCRA notices arbitrarily to several NGOs for financial gains.

Joshi, an Under Secretary in the home ministry, was being questioned by the sleuths of Special Crime division of the CBI. Joshi, who had disappeared on Wednesday morning from his home in Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, was picked up from Tilak Nagar area of West Delhi and taken to the CBI headquarters for questioning.

CBI Spokesperson Devpreet Singh said the CBI was tracking the accused and based on information that he was in West Delhi area around 5 PM he was arrested. "He has been brought to the CBI headquarter and is being questioned about the allegations against him," she said.

The case was slapped against Joshi and some other unnamed persons for allegedly indulging in corrupt practices and arbitrarily issuing notices to several NGOs, registered under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which were receiving foreign contributions, including activist Teesta Setalvad's Sabrang Trust.

Joshi has rejected the charge and instead accused his seniors of pressuring him to give a clean chit to NGOs. In a note which he had left before leaving home, Joshi claimed he had been subjected to mental harassment in recent months. The matter came to light after files pertaining to alleged FCRA violations by two NGOs run by Setalvad went missing from the Home Ministry. The files were traced and restored to 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 for alleged multiple violations of FCRA rules, including misuse of funds for personal benefit of trustees.

Source: http://huntnews.in/p/detail/3362668728125976?xlang=en&uc_param_str=dnfrpfbivesscpgimibtbmntnijblauputoggdnw&pos=1463376633017&channel=tag_headlines&chncat=tags_english