New Delhi: Amnesty India International Pvt. Ltd and its former CEO Aakar Patel have been slapped with penalty of Rs 51.72 crore and Rs 10 crore respectively for contravention of the foreign exchange law, the ED said on Friday. Responding to the development, Aakar, quoting PTI's tweet, wrote: ah yes of course.
The federal agency said it initiated action against the two on the basis of information that Amnesty International, UK had been remitting "huge amount" of foreign contribution through its Indian entities (non-FCRA companies) following FDI route. This was done to evade Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and to further the Amnesty's NGO activities in India.
This was despite denial of prior registration or permissions to Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT) and other trusts under FCRA by the Ministry of Home Affairs, it said. The Enforcement Directorate said the show cause notice of penalty was issued as the funds received "violated" Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) provisions.
Earlier, the former journalist and human rights activist had been stopped from leaving India at the Bengaluru airport on April 6, 2022. He was stopped citing a lookout circular issued against him by the CBI in connection with an FCRA (Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 case.
Also read: Aakar Patel case: Why CBI director was asked to apologise... What did the court say?
He had previously worked on topics related to the 2002 Gujarat riots and presented a report "Rights and Wrongs" and has been writing columns for publications in India and Pakistan. Aakar, also, had an FIR filed against him for allegedly urging Indians to emulate US protests, on June 2, 2020. Aakar had tweeted that protests like the ones in the US over George Floyd's death are needed in India by the marginalised communities.
