CBI registers case against Teesta Setalvad, husband over foreign funds

After the CBI was ordered to probe foreign funds into an organisation run by activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband, the federal investigating agency on Tuesday reportedly registered a case against her, her husband and another individual.

The filing of the case could mean that the agency could question Setalvad, her husband Javed Anand, and the founder of Citizens for Justice and Peace, Peshimam, sources told the Times of India.

The trio face up to five years in jail if found guilty, CBI officials told the newspaper.

The government had earlier ordered a CBI probe into the transfer of funds by US-based Ford Foundation to Sabrang Communication and Publishing Pvt Limited (SCPPL) and even froze a bank account of the firm on 26 June.

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Sources had told PTI that SCPPL was allegedly in violation of rules of Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) in accepting a donation of $2.9 lakh from Ford Foundation without getting clearance of the Home Ministry.

According to the rules, an organisation or a private firm can accept donations from overseas only after it is registered under FCRA.

Official sources told PTI that this donation was, therefore, a "serious violation" of FCRA provisions which mandate funding from a foreign source to only those recipients who have FCRA registration.

A bank account of the firm located in Juhu, Mumbai, had also been frozen at the instruction of the Home Ministry.

The Gujarat government had earlier asked the Home Ministry to take action against Ford Foundation, alleging that the US-based organisation was "interfering in internal affairs" of the country and also "abetting communal disharmony" through an NGO run by Setalvad.

The fund transfer from Ford Foundation has, at present, to be cleared by a nodal official in the Home Ministry. In April, the government had ordered that funds from Ford Foundation should not be released by any bank to any Indian NGO without mandatory permission from the Home Ministry.

There are several cases in which the Gujarat government and Setalvad are waging legal battles. While she has filed several cases against the state government functionaries, including the then chief minister Narendra Modi in connection with post-Godhra riots of 2002, the state police have filed a case of alleged embezzlement of funds against her.

The apex court on 19 February had restrained the Gujarat Police from arresting the activist and her husband in connection with a case of embezzlement filed against them. It has extended their interim bail while their case has been referred to a higher bench of the court.

Setalvad and her husband have been booked by the Crime Branch of Gujarat Police on charges of cheating, breach of trust and under the IT Act, in a matter relating to the construction of "Museum of Resistance" in the Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad which was hit by communal riots in 2002.

Even the Centre initiating action against the beneficiaries of the Ford Foundation has been the subject of intense debate in the past.

While Firstpost's G Pramod Kumar has argued that the Modi government is targeting the Ford Foundation on account of it funding his critics, others like columnist Kartikeya Tanna have argued that the government's actions are only concerning those who misused funds from the agency.

with PTI inputs