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INDIAN SOCIAL ACTION FORUM (INSAF)
A124/6, 1st floor, Katwaria Sarai,
New Delhi 110 016
Tel: +91-11-26517814/ 65663958
Email:[email protected]: http://www.insafindia.net
SPEED-POST
September 20, 2013
Mr. A. K. Sinha,Director to the Government of India,Foreigners
Division (FCRA Wing),Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi.
Sub: Ref F.No.II/21022/58(0034)2013-FCRA-(MU)
Dear Mr. Sinha,
Greetings,
We are in receipt of your AUTHORISATION UNDER SECTION 23 OF
FCRA, 2010 dated 13September, 2013 for an inspection of INSAF
records.
We are constrained to draw your attention to the fact that the
said order contravenes thestatutory requirements of Section 23 of
FCRA, 2010 and is legally unsustainable.
Section 23 of FCRA, 2010 allows the Central Government to
authorize an inspection ofaccounts or records of an organization
only if :
Section 23 : the Central Government has, for any reason, to be
recorded in writing, anyground to suspect that any provision of
this Act has been or is being contravened by (c)
any organization...
This is to say that any Central Government order authorizing an
inspection under Section 23,must indicate in clear terms (a)
Central Governments grounds for suspecting a contraventionof the
provisions of the Act; and (b) the reasons for which the Central
Government thinks thatsuch a ground of suspicion exists.
Unfortunately, your order of authorization dated September 13,
2013 does not disclose anysuch ground and reason and is to that
extent not in compliance with the statutoryrequirements of Section
23.
We hope that you will appreciate our concerns highlighted above
and consider recalling thecaptioned order in the best interest of
principles of natural justice, fairness and transparency.
We may also draw your attention to Honble Delhi High Courts
judgment dated September19, 2013 in W.P. (C) 4982 of 2013
(enclosed). The said judgment has been passed in thecontext of
Section 13 of the FCRA, 2010, which like Section 23 of the Act,
requires reasons tobe recorded in writing for an order under the
said section.
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In the said judgment, Hon'ble Justice V K Jain clearly lays down
that in view of the statutoryrequirement of reasons to be recorded
in writing incorporated in Section 13, an order underthe said
section can be passed :
only for reasons to be recorded and such reasons, in my view,
need to be incorporated in thesuspension order itself so that the
organization is in a position to know what were the reasonswhich
impelled the Government to suspend its registration and in case the
organization feels
that certificate has been suspended for the reasons which are
not envisaged undersub-section (1) of Section 13 or are not
otherwise cogent, objective and transparent, it canchallenge such
suspension by way of appropriate proceedings. Such reasons cannot
begiven, by way of extraneous evidence at a later stage. In the
absence of reasons, it would notbe possible for the organization to
challenge the suspension.
You will appreciate that the requirement that order be passed
for reasons to be recorded inwriting being identical in Section 13
and 23, the above ratio applies equally to your captionedorder.
Further, Section 23 has an additional requirement of disclosing the
grounds ofsuspicion of contravention.
Therefore, request you to appreciate the deficiencies in your
captioned order, which render it
illegal and rescind the same. Request you further to communicate
to us your response to thisletter. We humbly reserve the right to
pursue our legal remedies against the said order.
Yours Sincerely
Chitranjan SinghGeneral Secretary
cc. Mr. V. Vumlunmang, Joint Secretary, Foreigners Division
(FCRA Wing), Ministry of HomeAffairs, New Delhi.
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