Foreign entities funding Indian NGOs to stall public projects, Centre tells Supreme Court

Foreign entities are making concerted efforts to stall public projects and “affect the economic interests of India” by funding Indian non-governmental organisations and trusts, the Modi government told the Supreme Court on Monday, reported The Indian Express.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta was hearing an appeal by the Environics Trust, a non-governmental organisation, against a November 8 Delhi High Court order.

The Environics Trust had moved the High Court against the Income Tax Department’s notice to open tax reassessment proceedings against it. The court rejected the plea, observing that the scope of judicial review in such cases was restricted.

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Income Tax Department to initiate tax reassessment proceedings against Environics Trust but said that no final orders can be passed without prior permission, reported PTI.

Opposing the organisation’s appeal in the Supreme Court, the Income Tax Department said that it had begun investigating Environics Trust on September 7, 2022. The department alleged that the organisation’s “activities are neither genuine nor being carried out as per the objects of the Trust”.

“It is found that the petitioner trust is being funded by foreign entities and is being used to stall public projects, which are in the interest of India,” read the Income Tax Department’s affidavit before...

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