JUDGMENT :

A.M. KHANWILKAR, J.

1. These petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution of India primarily assail the constitutional validity of the amendments to the provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010¹ [for short “the 2010 Act” or “the Principal Act” as the case may be] vide the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Act, 2020² [for short “the 2020 Act” or “the Amendment Act” as the case may be] which has come into effect on 29.9.2020, in particular, Sections 7 , 12(1A), 12A and 17(1), being manifestly arbitrary, unreasonable and impinging upon the fundamental rights guaranteed to the petitioners under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.

2. Re: Writ Petition (Civil) No. 566 of 2021

(a) Petitioner No. 1 in this petition along with Carol Faison founded a trust in the name of “The Care and Share Charitable Trust” in Vijayawada, India (bearing Registration No. 242/1997), in the year 1997. It is the case of the petitioners that the Trust is also registered with the Income Tax authorities and Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India including under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976³ [for short “the 1976 Act”] for receipt of forei