Bombay HC grants relief to Indira Jaising, Anand Grover in FCRA violation case

Bombay High Court on Thursday granted interim relief to senior counsels Indira Jaising and Anand Grover in a Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) violation case filed against them earlier this year.

Bombay HC also stated that no coercive steps can be taken on the basis of the case registered by CBI under FCRA violation case.

The probe agency had last month, registered a case against the NGO Lawyers Collective, whose founding members are Jaising and Grover on the charges of violating rules under the FCRA.

Jaisingh and Grover had approached Bombay HC for quashing of CBI FIR against them.

The FIR was registered based on a complaint by the Ministry of Home Affairs against the NGO.

The complaint stated that the NGO "received foreign contribution amounting to Rs 32.39 crore" during the period 2006-07 to 2014-15.

The investigative agency said that Jaising had received Rs 96.6 lakh remuneration from foreign contributions made to the NGO during her term as Additional Solicitor General (2009-14).

The complaint also alleged that the expenses of her foreign trips as ASG were borne by the NGO without the Home Ministry's prior approval.

In a statement, the Lawyers Collective (LC) had expressed "shock and outrage at the action of the CBI" in registering an FIR against them.