-TheWire.in The petition before the apex court had claimed that retrospective amendments to the FCRA were meant to bail out the BJP and Congress, held guilty by the Delhi high court of accepting foreign funding.   New Delhi: The Supreme Court’s notice to the Centre on July 2 seeking a response to a plea alleging that the recent amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010 have opened the doors to...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court today sought the response of the Centre and the Election Commission on a joint petition filed by NGOs challenging amendments to the 2016 and 2017 Finance Acts that allegedly allow unfettered donations by corporate houses in India and foreign entities to parties in the name of "political bonds". According to advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi, appearing for the NGOs Association of Democratic Reforms and...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre today told the Supreme Court that political parties that received donation from Indian subsidiaries of foreign companies could not be said to have flouted the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act as Parliament had amended the relevant provision in 2010. Neither the BJP nor the Congress had, therefore, violated the FCRA in receiving donations from the Vedanta Group's Indian subsidiaries between 2007 and 2009, the Centre contended. Hence,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government may soon require all NGOs registered or granted prior permission to receive foreign funds under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, to allow the Centre to access details of their FCRA accounts in real time. According to amendments proposed by the Union home ministry to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules (FCRR), 2011, the NGOs may give the consent in writing at the time of...

-Business Standard FCRA amendment raises questions about ethical governance The little-noticed announcement in the Finance Bill to retrospectively amend a clause in the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) does little to enhance the government's reputation for ethical governance. The amendment, to apply from 2010, will mean that donations to political parties by Indian companies with foreign direct investment within mandated sectoral limits will no longer be considered "foreign contributions". The FCRA bans...