NNWN / New Delhi, 2017-07-12

The Supreme Court has given four weeks to Centre to examine ways to regulate funds for NGOs. or make provisions for prosecution in the event of misuse or misappropriation of funds or non-filing of annual statements.
The apex court gave time to the Centre after Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta  submitted that certain instructions were required to be taken “from the top level” to bring in a legislation or draft some guidelines and also include some penal provisions. The top court was hearing the writ petition filed by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, alleging misuse of funds by Anna Hazare’s NGO Hind Swaraj Trust. It had earlier expanded the scope of Sharma’s PIL plea to include the status of all NGOs.
A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar told the ASG that these were serious issues and directed them to implement it to the authorities more teeth. The bench further told ASG to make a fair decision and the court had already given direction to the government in this regard.
The Supreme Court directive came even as the Home Ministry issued showcause notices to nearly 6000 NGOs seeking their reply on why action should not be taken against them for not filing their annual returns for the last 5-6 financial years.