Tax crackdown draws links between NGOs — in ‘cause’ and funding pattern

* The president of 1 NGO is simply a shareholder of another.

These are among the cardinal allegations, chiefly linking process and personnel, listed by the Income Tax Department pursuing its crackdown connected 5 large NGOs, including the country’s premier deliberation vessel Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and the multinational confederation Oxfam, according to an probe by The Indian Express.

The I-T probe was triggered by searches conducted connected September 7, 2022, astatine the premises of Oxfam, CPR, Environics Trust (ET), Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE) and Care India Solution for Sustainable Development (CISSD).

Following the searches, the I-T section concluded that these NGOs had allegedly violated identical provisions of the 2010 Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA): “mismatch” successful yearly returns and statements of overseas currency slope accounts; and “misutilisation” of funds successful overseas currency. The FCRA licences of these NGOs were subsequently cancelled, resulting successful ineligible challenges being filed by them that are presently being heard successful the Delhi High Court.

The Indian Express has reviewed “intimation letters” issued to these NGOs by the I-T section by the extremity of 2023, each of implicit 100 pages, and including for lawsuit copies of assorted agreements, fiscal statements, emails, and minutes and draught notes of committee meetings, to way the cardinal allegations levelled against these NGOs. They include:

* “…foreign backing is influencing the moving of these trust/ institutions and they are indulging successful activities contrary to the objects for which they were formed….” the I-T letters state. During 2015-2021, Care India allegedly received 92% of its backing from abroad, followed by Environics Trust (95%), LIFE (86%) Oxfam (78%). Environics Trust allegedly received 100% of its backing from overseas for 3 of these six years. The information did not see CPR.

* The 5 NGOs are “interconnected and their main persons interlinked”. The letters issued to 4 of the 5 NGOs — Oxfam, ET, LIFE and Care India — person a communal concluding conception titled “Concerted efforts by connected NGOs”.

* A abstracted missive to Environics Trust sums it up: “…there is simply a concerted effort by assorted NGOs to enactment the agitators and stall the assorted projects. These NGOs are supporting each different for desired effect and agitation and make instrumentality and bid issues…”

The charges listed separately against the NGOs include:

Oxfam: The 141-page I-T missive alleges activities “against” stated objectives. For instance, it points to Oxfam India’s enactment for Oxfam Australia’s propulsion to halt mining by Adani Group. It cites emails and “evidence” from hard drives to state: “…it is wide that Oxfam India has nonstop involvement towards delisting Adani Ports….It is simply a sinister program of Oxfam India successful the sanction of charitable activities to people an Indian concern radical successful Australia… they are conspiring with overseas entities…”

The missive points to Oxfam’s expenses for the Van Swaraj Andolan successful Raipur successful 2019, and sub-grants to organisations specified arsenic Josh (for societal health) and Aman Biradari Trust. It claims that aft its FCRA licence was cancelled, Oxfam tried to find different “puppet NGOs” with valid permissions to redirect funds for causes. Claiming that Oxfam India had a “political agenda”, the missive states that it “should enactment for the payment of nationalist arsenic full and not the payment of immoderate peculiar spiritual assemblage oregon caste (the Muslim community)”.

Centre for Policy Research: The 115-page I-T missive claims discrepancies successful money postulation and absorption of overseas donations. It states CPR was allegedly “involved” successful the Hasdeo question against ember mining successful Chhattisgarh done Jana Abhivyakti Samajik Vikas Sanstha (JASVS) — and that 83% of funds received by JASVS betwixt 2019-2023 were from CPR.

According to the I-T department, CPR received overseas funds of Rs 10.19 crore since 2016 for its Namati-Environmental Justice Programme to record “litigation and complaints”. It asserts that CPR is the lone subordinate successful India of US-based Namati Inc with a stated nonsubjective of filing cases wherever determination is injustice to radical oregon situation from projects. The missive states “that the eventual intent of ‘Namati – Environment Justice Program’ is to record litigation and complaints alternatively of carrying retired immoderate specified probe oregon ‘Educational’ activity”.

Environics Trust: The 104-page I-T missive alleges backing for protests against JSW Utkal Steel Plant successful Odisha’s Dhinkia and that Rs 1,250 each was transferred to accounts of 711 section residents successful 2020. It claims ET and London-based Survival International “are conspiring against Adani’s Godda Plant successful Jharkhand by connecting the radical to fortify the anti-Adani movement…” The “assessee” is “misusing” its funds for “stalling the developmental projects’’, the missive states.

It besides alleges that ET was progressive successful protests against LG’s polymer chemic works successful Visakhapatnam successful 2020, pursuing a state leak. It claims an ET worker “is provoking each groups associated with Environics Trust to articulation the protestation against the LG institution regarding the state leak incident”.

According to the I-T Department, “it is wide that European Climate Foundation (ECF) successful relation with Environics Trust is targeting ember and thermal powerfulness plants successful India and is engaged successful mobilisation and protestation against the large corporates of India (including authorities entities). The funds person been fixed by the ECF with the eventual nonsubjective of stalling of thermal powerfulness works and causing disturbance successful the country wherever thermal plants are located. This shows however ET is being played successful the hands of ECF…”

LIFE: The 86-page I-T missive states “LIFE Trust is being utilized arsenic an instrumentality by (US-based NGO) Earth Justice to stall the ember mines and Thermal Power Projects”. It cites a purported email speech betwixt LIFE laminitis Ritwick Dutta and an Earth Justice authoritative to assertion that “LIFE and its members are alert of its amerciable activities and their results. They are acrophobic of being caught.” It cites an email successful which Dutta purportedly writes: “My presumption is that Earth Justice is apt to beryllium enactment nether the scanner of Indian quality organization…”

The I-T section claims that Dutta was earlier moving a proprietorship interest that received astir Rs 22 crore of “professional receipts” from Earth Justice crossed 5 years.

‘Working successful concert’

According to the “intimation letters”, determination are alleged “linkages” betwixt the NGOs, which bespeak that they were moving successful “concert” with each other:

* CPR erstwhile president (she was heading it astatine the clip of the IT searches), Yamini Aiyar, is besides a shareholder of Care. Oxfam India offered a Rs 12-lakh task for short-term grooming of cardinal CPR employees, the I-T section claims. It cites an email to assertion that immoderate portion of this outgo (Rs 5 Lakh) was for CPR to beryllium utilized for immoderate purpose.

* Environics Trust allegedly has “close links’’ with Ritwick Dutta’s LIFE. “In immoderate cases Ritwick Dutta, connected behalf of ET appeared against the Union Government referring to biology activities but successful world the litigation has led to stalling the economical and improvement activities of the country,” the I-T section claims. Both NGOs are allegedly “involved successful targeting and stalling ember projects successful India by utilizing overseas funds”.

* Oxfam India is simply a “key donor”, according to the probe. It funded ET “to mobilize communities with the assistance of section unions against ember industries”, including the Dhinkia protests, the letters state. “Oxfam India is making assorted payments continuously to ET for assorted reasons,” the I-T section states, citing purported banking transactions. Its conclusion: “ET has been continuously funded by Oxfam and that shows that ET is the instrumentality successful the manus of Oxfam for agitational activities.”

The I-T probe concludes that “Oxfam and ET person been receiving donations from abroad”. “Their activities look to beryllium connected behest of their overseas donors and serving the vested involvement of their donors successful India oregon domestically,” it states. The I-T probe has cited details successful its “intimation letters” arsenic grounds of “robust activities oregon speech of ideas betwixt LIFE, Earth Justice, Green Peace, ET arsenic good arsenic Oxfam”.

***

‘Allegation baseless’

A cardinal allegation by the I-T section that the 5 NGOs successful its crackdown were linked successful process and unit are baseless, the laminitis of 1 of them, LIFE, said. “The allegation that each the NGOs were interlinked and interconnected is baseless. LIFE has ne'er received immoderate funds from Oxfam and ne'er collaborated with CPR, Oxfam and Care India. There was lone enactment with Environics Trust… LIFE is simply a voluntary organisation and is carrying retired immoderate of its activities present based connected voluntary contributions,” said LIFE laminitis Ritwick Dutta. An authoritative of Environics Trust declined to comment. The 3 different NGOs — Oxfam, CPR and CISSD — did not respond to requests for remark connected the I-T department’s allegations.