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MHA launches probe into 'possible' FCRA violation by Amnesty

NEW DELHI: As Amnesty India faces afor allegedly raisingat a Bengaluru event, the home ministry has started a probe into its funding to check for a possible foreign source. Amnesty India is not registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010, and its last request for prior permission was for a 3,00,000 pounds foreign donation in 2012, of which 1,00,000 pounds originated from a suspicious NGO registered in the tax haven of Gibraltar.The home ministry, which had allowed a donation to Amnesty India from Amnesty International, UK earlier, refused to allow the 3,00,000 pound donation as founder of the Gibraltar-based Kusuma Trust, from which 1,00,000 pounds were to be sourced, had pleaded guilty in a US court in 2008 of a gambling fraud.According to media reports, Kusuma Trust founder Anurag Dikshit, had pleaded guilty to charges of illegal Internet gambling and agreed to cooperate with a US Justice department probe. Indian intelligence agencies had given an adverse opinion on Amnesty India’s request seeking prior permission for the Kusuma Trust donation, stating that apart from its suspicious antecedents, Kusuma Trust was mainly working in the field of education. They noted that the objectives of the Kusuma Trust did not agree with that of Amnesty India, which was involved in “vastly different” field of human rights.Incidentally, a request from Amnesty India for registration under FCRA has been pending with the home ministry for a couple of years “It is under examination,” said a senior home ministry official.Sources said Amnesty India is largely run with crowd-sourced domestic funds. “We are now examining if any foreign funds were routed to it indirectly, as the last prior permission request sent to the home ministry years ago was rejected,” said a home ministry officer.The probe will see under what laws the India chapter of Amnesty International may have received foreign funds, if any, besides studying its expenses and patterns of expenses, the official said.Amnesty has rejected as “without substance” themade by Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and claimed that none of its employees shouted any anti-India slogans at any point during the event in Bengaluru.