'FCRA Cancellation Only Restricts Foreign Funds': Delhi HC Dismisses Govt Plea Against CHRI's Rs 20 Lakh Withdrawal
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Thursday (September 17) refused to interfere with an interim order allowing the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) to withdraw Rs 20 lakh from its reserve fund to meet operational expenses, saying it does not affect the organisation’s cancellation of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration, The Hindu reported.
A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia dismissed the Union government’s appeal against the May 19 order of a single judge bench. The court observed that cancellation of an organisation’s FCRA registration does not mean that it ceases to function.
"Cancellation of FCRA registration merely means that the organisation cannot receive foreign funds," the bench said.
“Order was passed way back on May 19, 2026. Seek vacation of the order,” it added, disposing of the appeal.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, appearing for the government, had argued that the judge in the previous order had misread the FCRA provisions, appealing to the court with liberty to approach the single judge for appropriate relief.
A single judge bench had on May 19 allowed the CHRI to withdraw Rs 20 lakh from its reserve fund maintained with the Bank of India, to use it towards recurring operational expenses, subject to authentication by a chartered accountant.
According to the daily, the CHRI had challenged before the single judge the cancellation of its FCRA registration. It said that the license was cancelled on September 12, 2024, without giving the organisation an opportunity to be heard, in violation of principles of natural justice and its statutory and fundamental rights.
CHRI, an entity that worked on human rights and police reforms, is among thousands of non-governmental organisations that have had their FCRA licences cancelled, or allowed to lapse, in the last decade. A similar cancellation took place in the case of the Centre for Policy Research, one of the country’s famed think tanks.
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