New Delhi : Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear an appeal seeking to quash the decision of the Center by which 5,789 entities lost their FCRA registration.
The US-based NGO Global Peace Initiative has filed a petition for hearing before a bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari on January 24.
Every association and NGO that wishes to receive foreign funding must register under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).
It was ruled that "the matter will be referred to the appropriate bench for consideration on January 24, 2022. An advance copy of the petition will be served on the Standing Counsel of the Central Agency as prayed for."
The number of FCRA-registered organizations was 22,762 on December 31,2021 but was 16,829 on January 1. These are the "live" organizations.
In September 2020 and December 2021, 18,778 FCRA licenses expire, according to officials.
12,989 organizations applied between September 30, 2020, and December 31, 2021 for FCRA license renewal.
In addition to these 5,789 organisations that did not apply for renewal of their FCRA license, 179 renewal applications were also rejected by the Home Ministry for different reasons, a source had said.