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PRATHIBA M. SINGH
Shree Swaminarayan Mandir – Appellant
Versus
Union of India – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
PRATHIBA M. SINGH, J.
1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.
2. The present petitions have been filed by Shree Swaminarayan Mandir, Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan and Shri. Swaminarayan Dwishatabdi Medical & Charitable Trust seeking directions to the Respondent - Ministry of Home Affairs, Union of India to allow the Petitioners to fill and upload Form FC-4 on the Respondent's portal in order to enable them to file the annual returns for the financial year 2019-2020.
3. The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) was amended by the Foreign Contribution Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020, under which substantial changes were brought. The same was notified with effect from 29th September, 2020. Section 17(1) of the FCRA was amended to provide as follows:
Organizations that opened their FCRA accounts after the amendment came into effect could still fill up the account details in Form FC-4 and submit the same without facing coercive action or penalty.
The delayed opening of the FCRA bank account and subsequent actions of the petitioner influenced the court's decision in validating the uploaded annual return without further penalties.
The court's decision was influenced by the interpretation of FCRA 2010, Section 12(4) and previous case law regarding the timing of bank account openings and filing of returns.
Mandamus cannot be issued for withdrawal of funds from FCRA account post-registration cancellation when statutory provisions vest authority with the government.
Delay in filing annual returns under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act constitutes non-compliance and is subject to penalties; however, penalties cannot be imposed retrospectively for actions....
Point of law : By the time suspension order was passed, the Central Government had neither issued any notice of hearing / Show Cause notice in terms of sub-section (2) of Section 14 nor had it initia....
An appeal under Section 31(2) of the FCRA, 2010 is maintainable against the rejection of a renewal application, emphasizing the necessity for clear reasoning in rejection orders.
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