SC rejects CBI plea to relieve it from probing NGOs

CBI today expressed difficulty in probing and collecting information on NGOs operating in the country and pleaded that the task be handed over to states, a plea summarily rejected by the Supreme Court which directed the agency to comply with its order within six weeks.
A bench headed by Justice H L Dattu refused to modify its order directing the agency to collect information on all registered NGOs in the country and whether they file their balance sheets before the concerned authority or not.
"If CBI can probe murder cases then why not probe against NGOs? You can do so many things, you do it also," the bench said.

Additional Solicitor General Siddharth Luthra submitted that data is available with the state governments and they should be directed to provide information on NGOs.
He said the task given to the agency is huge and the CBI has difficulty in complying with the order.
"It is respectfully submitted that at the time of hearing it was inadvertently not pointed out to this court that the task is huge and the voluminous exercise will require manpower and resources. The data sought for by this court is not limited to societies in hundreds but thousands all over the country," CBI said in its plea.

The bench, however, refused to modify its order but granted six weeks more time to the agency to provide information.

NGOs have come under judicial scrutiny with the Supreme Court on September 2 asking the CBI to provide details about such registered organisations and their financial statements on a PIL seeking probe into alleged embezzling of funds.
The apex court had expanded the scope of the PIL which was filed in 2011 against an NGO, Hind Swaraj Trust, run by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare.
When advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, who has filed the PIL, had raised the issue of alleged syphoning off of funds granted by the government to Hazare's trust in 1995, the bench said he should not be concerned about one NGO.

"Why are you concerned only about one person. We are not concerned about individuals and we would go step by step," the bench had said.