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Synopsis

The Supreme Court has recently allowed a Christian evangelist group to continue to use bank accounts frozen allegedly due to violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulations Act, for smooth functioning of the 103 educational institutions and more than a dozen primary health centres by it.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prashant Kumar Mishra, however, put a rider that the petitioners, Operation Mobilization India and others, would not only maintain proper and complete statements of accounts but would also get the same audited by a Chartered Accountant and provide quarterly statements to the Investigating Officer or to the trial court on regular basis.

In its order on April 5, 2024, the court made as absolute its interim order passed on April 7, 2021.

The court ordered the pending proceedings before all other forums to continue in accordance with law where it would be open for all the parties concerned to raise all such contentions as may be available under law. 

"We also make it clear that we have not made any observations on merits and the above order has been passed only for smooth functioning of the 103 educational institutions and more than a dozen primary health centres run by the petitioners," the bench said.

The FIR was lodged on September 29, 2016 under Sections 409, 420, 477(A) and Section 37 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010. 

The investigation was taken up by the Economic Offences Wing (CID), Telangana State. The challenge to the FIR was rejected by the Supreme Court on September 12, 2017 directing “the investigation to be completed as expeditiously as possible".

A writ petition was filed before the Telangana High Court seeking directions for investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation. A counter affidavit was filed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, CBI, ACB, Hyderabad declining that the CBI had any role in the investigation for reasons. On November 21, 2020 after more than four years of the registration of the First Information Report, the CID Telangana State froze the accounts of the petitioners.

This compelled the petitioners to approach the high court which rejected the challenge to the freezing of the accounts.

Before the top court, the Ministry of Home Affairs filed an affidavit stating that the CID Telangana should be permitted to continue the probe.

Senior advocate Shyam, appearing for the petitioners submitted that they would be content and satisfied if the liberty granted by the order to the petitioners to continue utilising their accounts for payment of salary and institutional expenses and would continue to maintain proper and complete statement of accounts for the same are continued, the petitioners would contest the pending proceedings before the High Courts and other Courts on their own merits and would avail such remedies as may be available under law.

Telangana government admitted the fact that the petitioner-organisation was actually running 103 institutions all over the country in 18 States and also more than a dozen primary health centres.

The counsel also said that they were not interested in any way in shutting down the said institutions, both educational and health centres, but insisted that the statement of accounts must be properly maintained and duly audited by chartered accountants and the same should be made available to the investigating agency as and when required on a regular periodical basis.

The court permitted the petitioners to utilise their accounts to the limited extent of salary and institutional expenses are concerned but declined to consider contempt petition.

Case Title: Operation Mobilization India & Ors Vs State of Telangana & Ors