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Showing contexts for: fcra in Mohammad Sagir vs Ministry Of Home Affairs on 20 June, 2019Matching Fragments
1. The appellant filed an online application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi, seeking information on four points pertaining to exemption from the requirements of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010 of an entity (including, trusts, persons, associations, etc.) which seeks to receive foreign contribution, including inter-alia, (i) whether S.O. 1492(E) dated 01.07.2011 is the exclusive basis/criteria for grant of exemption from the requirements of FCRA 2010, details of any such basis/criteria other than S.O. 1492(E), and (ii) the list of entities (including their names and addresses) which have been granted exemption from the requirements of FCRA on any other criteria other than S.O. 1492(E).
Hearing:
3. Shri N. Sai Vinod, the appellant's Advocate and the respondent Shri Santosh Sharma, Director (FC) and CPIO, Foreigners Division, MHA, New Delhi was present in person.
4. The appellant submitted that the CPIO has not provided the procedure for seeking or granting exemption to an entity from the provisions of FCRA 2010 under S.O. 1492(S) or otherwise in case it wishes to receive foreign contributions, as sought vide point no. 3 of the RTI application. The respondent has also not provided the list of entities including, the names and addresses, which have been granted exemption from the requirements of FCRA on any other criteria other than S.O. 1492(E), sought vide point no. 2 of the RTI application. With respect to point no. 4 of the RTI application, the appellant stated that though the respondent authority has given an opportunity to inspect the relevant file/records relating to India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians (IDF-OI), he has specifically sought the hard copies of documents relating to grant of exemption to the organization including, its constitution.
5. The respondent submitted that exemption from provision of FCRA is granted under Section 50 of FCRA, 2010 and FCRA 2011 and there is no seperate procedure laid down by the Ministry for an organization to claim exemption from FCRA Act 2010. Further, the appellant can find a comprehensive Frequently Answered Questions (FAQs) on the process for seeking exemption on the Ministry's website. Hence, no information was provided to the appellant in respect of point no. 3 of his RTI application. He also affirmed with respect to point no. 2 of the RTI application that no such list of entities is available as no formal order for granting exemption from the provisions of FCRA has been issued. However, in response to a similar RTI application dated 06.04.2017, the appellant has been provided, as per the available records, the names and addresses of the entities exempted from the provisions of FCRA 2010. The respondent further assured to provide the information sought vide point no. 4 of the RTI application to the appellant, after severing personal information of third parties, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public interest and would cause an unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the third parties and hence, is exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.
Decision:
6. The Commission, after hearing the submissions of both the parties and perusing the records, observes that as per the respondent, no separate procedure has been prescribed by the Ministry for entities seeking foreign contributions from the provisions of FCRA 2010 and that no formal orders are issued granting exemption to an organization from the Act. In view of this, the Commission directs the respondent to file an affidavit with the Commission deposing that no seperate detailed procedure has been laid out by the Ministry for an organization seeking foreign contributions to claim exemption from FCRA 2010 and that no formal order has been issued granting exemption to an organization from the Act. Hence, no information can be provided to the appellant in respect of point no. 3 of his RTI application. A copy of the affidavit shall also be provided to the appellant. The Commission further directs the respondent to provide the information sought by the appellant vide point no. 4 of the RTI application relating to grant of exemption to India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians (IDF-OI) including, its constitution, after severing personal information of third parties, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public interest and would cause an unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the third parties. The above directions of the Commission shall be complied with, within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.