[ By Bobby Anthony ]A special court has taken cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a case pertaining to alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) by an NGO linked to corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar.Special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar took cognizance of the charge sheet and stated that there is “sufficient ground” against all...
A special court has taken cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a case pertaining to alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) by an NGO linked to corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar.
Special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar took cognizance of the charge sheet and stated that there is “sufficient ground” against all the accused. They have been summoned to appear before the court.
“The allegations in the complaint prima facie show that the arrayed accused were involved in the process of acquisition of proceeds of crime. Offenses under Section 3 read with Section 70, punishable under Section 4 of PMLA, 2002, is made out,” the court observed.
On December 4, 2017, the ED had registered a case against the NGO Advantage India, controlled by accused Deepak Talwar, for alleged violation of FCRA rules and begun its investigation to trail the proceeds of the crime.
The ED had alleged that the foreign contribution obtained by the NGO in 2012-13 and 2015-2016 was “not utilized for the mandated purposes” and Rs 90.72 crore funding was received from MBDA England (leading European missile manufacturer) as well as Airbus France under a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) grant process.
The ED alleged that a criminal conspiracy was hatched to divert funds for non-mandated purposes, by booking bogus expenditure in the books of account on the basis of forged documents.
It is also alleged that Deepak Talwar had roped in other accused persons named in the complaint, to execute his plan.