Did a hack lead to Teesta Setalvad's NGO licence being renewed automatically?

The Home Ministry had on Wednesday cancelled the renewal of the licences under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) of three NGOs.

New Delhi, Dec 15: A probe has been ordered to ascertain if there was hacking of government software which led to the automatic renewal of licences of NGOs run by Teesta Setalvad and Greenpeace India.

The Home Ministry had on Wednesday cancelled the renewal of the licences under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) of three NGOs.

Home Ministry officials say that a probe has been ordered to find out as to how the licences of the two NGOs run by Teesta Setalvad and one by Greenpeace were renewed automatically.

There may have been a hacking of the government software, the home ministry official said while adding that a probe would bring out the correct picture.

As per rules applications of all red flagged NGOs will have to be vetted by the Home Ministry's Foreigners Division.

However in the case of Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace run by Setalvad the licences were automatically renewed.

A similar situation was witnessed in the case of Greenpeace and also the Dr Zakir Naik run, Islamic Research Foundation.

After it had been found that the licences were renewed automatically, an embarassed home ministry had to cancel the licences.

These NGOs had been red flagged by the ministry for violating provisions under the FCRA.

The Home Ministry suspects that there may have been a hacking. A probe is currently underway to find out what exactly led to this embarassing situation.

OneIndia News