Greenpeace’s registration cancelled due to violation of laws: Rijiju

The Foreign Contribution Registration Act (FCRA) registration of Greenpeace India was cancelled for alleged violation of laws, including false declaration about foreign contribution, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. 

MoS for Home Kiren Rijiju said inspection of accounts and records of Greenpeace India, was conducted on the basis of inputs that provisions of FCRA 2010 were being violated.

During the inspection, he said, a number of violations were noticed, including transfer of foreign contribution to other than FCRA-designated bank accounts, under reporting and repeatedly mentioning incorrect amount of foreign contribution received, thus violating Section 33 of the FCRA 2010.

Under Section 33 of the FCRA, a person is liable for action if s/he knowingly (a) gives false intimation under sub-section, (c) of Section 9 or Section 18, or (b) seeks prior permission or registration by defraud, false representation or concealment of material fact.

The other violations by the NGO include incurring more than 50 per cent of foreign contribution on 

administrative expenditure, foreign NGO funding legal costs not only of bail but also of writ petitions of Indian NGOs and their activists, he said. “After serving show-cause notice and providing reasonable opportunity, registration of Greenpeace India was cancelled on September 2, 2015,” Rijiju said.