Teesta's CJP to be placed under "Prior Permission List"

New Delhi, July 24: The Citizens for Justice and Peace, an NGO run by Teesta Setalvad will be placed under the prior permission list by the Union Government. This would mean that the CJP will need to seek the permission of the government before it can receive any funds.

The Government has however decided to cancel the registration of another NGO, the Sabrang Trust. The decision to cancel the registration has been taken under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act of 2010.

Lesser violations by CJP

During the investigation that was conducted, it was found prima facie that the CJP had committed lesser violations. The Home Ministry has decided that in the wake of lesser violations by the CJP, it had only decided to keep under prior permission list the NGO.

The NGO would now need to seek the permission of the Home Ministry before it can get any funds from abroad.

In addition to this, if the Home Ministry does give permission to the CJP to accept foreign funds, then it would need to explain in detail the spending of the same.

Every penny that it gets will be accounted for and if there is a violation, then the government could go ahead and cancel the registration under the FCRA of 2010.

Bigger violations in Sabrang Trust

The government has however decided to take tough measures against the Sabrang Trust. A cancellation notice will be sent to Teesta Setalvad by next week.

The decision is to cancel the registration under the FCRA as the trust has been charged with using huge amount of foreign funds for purposes other than it was intended to used.

The Gujarat police had recently told the Supreme Court that a large amount of these funds were splurged on hair do's, wines and other luxuries. Once the registration of the trust is cancelled then it will not be entitled to receive any foreign funds.

When the investigations had been launched, it was found that the violations by the Sabrang Trust were high in nature. However the same cannot be said about the CJP now, a Home Ministry source informed.

Only a small amount of money was received by the CJP from the Sabrang Trust. However the money was used for purposes other than intended.

Taking into account the lower intensity of the violations, the Home Ministry has decided that for now it would place CJP only under the Prior Permission List.

The investigations would however continue as it has been found that certain discrepancies in the statement of accounts were committed in the case of the CJP as well.

OneIndia News