Delhi high court allows CPR’s request to use 25% fixed deposits to pay salaries

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Monday allowed think tank Centre for Policy Research’s (CPR) plea to utilise 25% of its funds in its fixed deposits (FD) for salaries months after its licence under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) was suspended in February.

“Application allowed. List the writ for hearing on January 11,” a bench led by justice Subramonium Prasad said on Monday.

CPR has challenged the suspension of its licence by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) ordered in February this year, nearly five months after the Income Tax department surveyed the premises of CPR, Oxfam India, and the Independent and Public Spirited Media Foundation, which funds digital media entities.

CPR’s accounts were frozen following the suspension.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, who appeared for CPR, cited FCRA Rules which allowed an organisation whose licence has been suspended to spend 25% of unutilized funds with prior approval for declared aims and objects.

“Money which we do not need immediately, we are bound to put in a government bond or some security which bears interest. The idea is 25%. I have a right to get it. The relaxation is because I have been suspended. Once suspended, I have day-to-day expenses and I have to pay salaries. We are now asking the court as to what the amount in my custody would be,” Datar said.

Lawyer Aruima Dwivedi, appearing for MHA, opposed CPR’s plea to allow the think tank to use a portion of its funds, saying it would have “grave ramifications” and would become a precedent.

The government told the court that CPR’s foreign funding needed to be stopped as it was receiving its foreign contributions for “undesirable purposes” likely to affect the country’s economic interest. It alleged that CPR transferred foreign contributions to other entities and deposited the contributions in non-designated accounts in violation of FCRA.

The high court, however, was not convinced and during the hearing on October 10, asked the government to explain what prejudice would be caused if it uses part of its fixed deposits to pay salaries to its employees.

“If they want to survive, they have 20 crore and 1/4th will be 5 crore. If you permit them 1/4th , what is the prejudice that will cause? You need to decide by tomorrow otherwise I am closing the matter tomorrow. Why cannot [CPR] be permitted to break the FDs and pay the salaries?” the high court asked the home ministry during its hearing last week.