ED penalises Amnesty India, ex-CEO Aakar Patel for Rs 60 crore

Amnesty India International Pvt. Ltd and its former CEO Aakar Patel have been slapped with a penalty of ₹ 51.72 crores and ₹ 10 crores respectively for contravention of the foreign exchange law, the ED said on Friday.

The federal agency said that it initiated action against the two on the basis of information that Amnesty International UK had been remitting a “huge amount” of foreign contribution through its Indian entities (non-FCRA companies) following the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) route, in order to evade Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to expand its NGO activities in India.

This was despite the 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.

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The Enforcement Directorate said the show cause notice of penalty was issued as the funds received “violated” the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) provisions.

The Foreign Exchange Regulations Act (FERA) was passed in India in 1973 that imposed strict regulations on certain kinds of payments and transactions which had an indirect impact on foreign exchange.

Amnesty International India was a country unit of the Amnesty International network concerned with promoting and defending human rights. In 2020, the organization halted its operations in the country after all its bank accounts were frozen.

(With Agency Inputs)