Home ministry cancels FCRA licence of Teesta Setalvad’s NGO Sabrang

The ministry of home affairs has cancelled the FCRA licence of civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad's 23-year-old NGO Sabrang Trust, allegedly for diverting the money donated to her trust to help riot victims to the her personal bank account.

A PTI report said the licence has been cancelled after almost one year of CBI inquiry conducted on the Sabrang Trust, which is run by both Teesta and her husband Javed Anand.

Teesta, a civil rights activist and journalist, is better known for her work after 2002 Gujarat riots.

In 2006 the Ford Foundation had reportedly given a grant of around Rs1.3 crore to address communalism and caste-based discrimination in India. But a report published in The Pioneer in 2013 said that Teesta and Javed had diverted the funds into their personal account.

Sabrang Trust, also known as Sabrang Communications, was founded in 1993. It publishes the monthly magazine named Communalism Combat.

Earlier this month, a home ministry official was arrested after it emerged that he had removed critical files linked to the investigation.

Another NGO run by Teesta and her husband, Citizens for Justice and Peace, has already been put under prior permission category, making it mandatory for the organisation to take permission from the MHA before accepting or utilising any foreign contribution.

Last year after a recommendation made by the MHA, CBI has registered a case against Sabrang Communication and Publishing Pvt Ltd for allegedly accepting and utilising foreign contribution. In September last year, the MHA had cancelled Sabrang's licence for six months accusing the organisation of violating Foreign Currency Regulations Act.