{"id":11127,"date":"2025-06-27T12:50:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T12:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legalmitra.com\/?p=11127"},"modified":"2025-06-27T13:01:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T13:01:57","slug":"charity-shouldnt-be-a-crime-madras-high-court-slams-suspicion-culture-over-foreign-funded-ngos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalmitra.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/27\/charity-shouldnt-be-a-crime-madras-high-court-slams-suspicion-culture-over-foreign-funded-ngos\/","title":{"rendered":"Charity Shouldn\u2019t Be a Crime\u201d: Madras High Court Slams \u2018Suspicion Culture\u2019 Over Foreign-Funded NGOs"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"11127\" class=\"elementor elementor-11127\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4753e05 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4753e05\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-a1a9602\" data-id=\"a1a9602\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-204dea2 elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-default elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"204dea2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.13.3 - 28-05-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<h5><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11128 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/legalmitra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_ezPTwPQtsboxeHTG-300x211.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/legalmitra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_ezPTwPQtsboxeHTG-300x211.jpg 300w, https:\/\/legalmitra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_ezPTwPQtsboxeHTG-1024x721.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/legalmitra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_ezPTwPQtsboxeHTG-768x541.jpg 768w, https:\/\/legalmitra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_ezPTwPQtsboxeHTG-150x106.jpg 150w, https:\/\/legalmitra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_ezPTwPQtsboxeHTG-450x317.jpg 450w, https:\/\/legalmitra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_ezPTwPQtsboxeHTG-1200x845.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/legalmitra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_ezPTwPQtsboxeHTG.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>In a significant ruling, the Madras High Court cautioned against treating foreign-funded NGOs with automatic suspicion, emphasizing that genuine charitable work must not be stifled by bureaucratic rigidity or procedural hyper-technicalities.<\/h5><p data-start=\"389\" data-end=\"750\">The Madras High Court has strongly urged Indian authorities to abandon the blanket mistrust often cast on charitable institutions merely because they receive foreign donations. The Court emphasized that unless there is concrete evidence of misuse or anti-national activities, such organisations must be dealt with an \u201copen mind.\u201d<\/p><p data-start=\"752\" data-end=\"985\">The remarks came while granting relief to the <strong data-start=\"798\" data-end=\"829\">Ellen Sharma Memorial Trust<\/strong>, a charitable body whose application for renewal of its <strong data-start=\"886\" data-end=\"934\">Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA)<\/strong> licence had been rejected without clear reasoning.<\/p><p data-start=\"987\" data-end=\"1051\">Justice <strong data-start=\"995\" data-end=\"1016\">N Anand Venkatesh<\/strong>, presiding over the matter, noted:<\/p><blockquote data-start=\"1053\" data-end=\"1261\"><p data-start=\"1055\" data-end=\"1261\"><em data-start=\"1055\" data-end=\"1261\">\u201cJust because some institutions run with the aid of foreign contribution, it is not necessary to look at them with suspicion unless there are materials to show misuse against national or public interest.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><p data-start=\"1263\" data-end=\"1625\">The trust, which has been active since the 1980s in uplifting children\u2019s education\u2014especially for orphans and Tibetan refugees\u2014was denied FCRA renewal in 2021. It later learned the rejection was due to alleged distribution of foreign donations to its sister NGO without prior approval\u2014a rule introduced only after <strong data-start=\"1577\" data-end=\"1624\">amendments to Section 7 of the FCRA in 2020<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has-el-gap el-gap-default elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-49a751b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"49a751b\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-9a88bed\" data-id=\"9a88bed\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c4bef96 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c4bef96\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-size: 16.604px; font-family: 'Public Sans', system-ui, sans-serif; font-weight: var(--title-fw-bold);\">ALSO READ<\/span><\/p><div class=\"post-meta post-meta-a post-meta-left post-meta-single\"><h2 class=\"is-title post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/legalmitra.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/10\/registered-but-not-owned-supreme-court-drops-a-legal-bombshell\/\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Registered But Not Owned? Supreme Court Drops a Legal Bombshell<\/span><\/a><\/h2><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-8e170cb elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"8e170cb\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e39267d\" data-id=\"e39267d\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fbce1e6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"fbce1e6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Court clarified that the new provisions applied for only about five months in the trust\u2019s case and that the lapse appeared to be a <strong data-start=\"1762\" data-end=\"1796\">bona fide procedural oversight<\/strong>, not a deliberate violation.\\<\/p><p data-start=\"2371\" data-end=\"2585\">The Court has now directed the authorities to <strong data-start=\"2417\" data-end=\"2474\">renew the trust\u2019s FCRA registration within four weeks<\/strong>, reinforcing the principle that procedural rigidity should not override <strong data-start=\"2547\" data-end=\"2584\">genuine intent and social welfare<\/strong>.<\/p><p data-start=\"2587\" data-end=\"2751\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">This ruling sends a clear message amid growing scrutiny of NGOs across India\u2014that <strong data-start=\"2669\" data-end=\"2687\">intent matters<\/strong>, and the <strong data-start=\"2697\" data-end=\"2736\">spirit of charity must be preserved<\/strong>, not punished.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has-el-gap el-gap-default elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-1d8b944 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"1d8b944\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-b80ec40\" data-id=\"b80ec40\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ef2abe0 elementor-widget-divider--view-line_text elementor-widget-divider--element-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"ef2abe0\" 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The Madras High Court has strongly urged Indian authorities to abandon the blanket mistrust often cast on charitable institutions merely because they receive foreign<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1690,14],"tags":[1693,448,99],"class_list":["post-11127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-june-2025","category-most-recent","tag-consumer-court","tag-non-vegetarian-ingredient","tag-restaurant"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Charity Shouldn\u2019t Be a Crime\u201d: Madras High Court Slams \u2018Suspicion Culture\u2019 Over Foreign-Funded NGOs Legal Mitra<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/legalmitra.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/27\/charity-shouldnt-be-a-crime-madras-high-court-slams-suspicion-culture-over-foreign-funded-ngos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Charity Shouldn\u2019t Be a Crime\u201d: Madras High Court Slams \u2018Suspicion Culture\u2019 Over Foreign-Funded NGOs Legal Mitra\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a significant ruling, the Madras High Court cautioned against treating foreign-funded NGOs with automatic suspicion, emphasizing that genuine charitable work must not be stifled by bureaucratic rigidity or procedural hyper-technicalities. 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