Amnesty India & ex-CEO Aakar Patel penalised over Rs 61 crore by ED
text_fields
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said that Amnesty India International Pvt. Ltd and Aakar Patel, its former CEO were fined Rs 51.72 crore and Rs 10 crore respectively for violating the Foreign Exchange law.
The federal agency said the action was initiated against the two on the basis of information that "huge amounts" of foreign remittances were being sent by Amnesty International UK through their Indian entities (non-FCRA companies) followed by the FDI route to evade Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to expand its NGO activities in India.
This happened despite the Ministry of Home Affairs denying prior registration or permission to Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT) and other trusts under the FCRA.
The Enforcement Directorate said the show cause notice of penalty was issued as the funds received "violated" Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) provisions.
Source - PTI