Centre calls for CBI inquiry against activist Harsh Mander's NGO Aman Biradari

Officials said action came as MHA found that there were discrepancies in NGO's records and violation of FCRA

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recommended an investigation by the CBI against 'Aman Biradari', an NGO established by bureaucrat-turned-activist Harsh Mander who is a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing it of violating Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.

Officials said the action against 'Aman Biradari' came as the MHA found that there were discrepancies in the NGO's records and violation of the FCRA. As per law, NGOs can only receive foreign funds if it is registered under FCRA.

Mander, who could not be reached for comments, was a member of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council during the erstwhile UPA government, and founded Aman Biradari, which is a "people's campaign for a secular, peaceful, just and humane world".

It "aims to attain the same through the building of local level institutions at village and district levels, comprising mainly the youth and women, from diverse backgrounds and faiths in order to strengthen mutual bonds of tolerance, fraternity, respect and peace between people of different religions, caste and language groups".

This is not the first time that Mander, who was a member of the Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council, has faced a case. In September 2021, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had conducted searches at premises linked to Mander in a money laundering case, which was based on a Delhi Police FIR.

The police had registered a case against Mander-led Centre for Equity Studies (CES) in February 2021 following a complaint by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), accusing it of violations in two children's homes 'Umeed Aman Ghar' and 'Khushi Rainbow Home'.

The NCPCR had claimed that it had found financial and administrative irregularities in the running of the children's homes and also alleged in court that they were informed by the children that they had been taken to protest sites. However, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) had contradicted NCPCR's claims and had supported Mander's claim that CES was facing trouble because of political vendetta.

In a statement, the CES had described the searches as a "continuation of harassment and coercion of CES and Harsh Mander for being an outspoken and passionate defender of human rights".