SC to take up CBI plea against Jaising's NGO on Nov 14

The Supreme Court is to consider on November 14 a CBI plea against a Bombay High Court's order granting protection from arrest to senior advocates Indira Jaising and her husband Anand Grover in a case related to foreign funding of their NGO, Lawyers Collective.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Surya Kant decided to take up the matter along with a pending PIL filed for expeditious probe against the NGO.

Several eminent senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan, Colin Gonsalves, advocate Prashant Bhushan, among others were present in the court room along with Jaising and Grover, when the matter was taken up.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the CBI.

The court, for its part, decided to consider the instant petition by the CBI against July 25 order by the high court, along with the PIL by an NGO from Delhi 'Lawyers Voice'.

The 'Lawyers Voice' claimed Union government's officers did not act against Jaising's NGO “despite recording serious acts of commissions and omissions” in orders issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on May 31, 2017, and November 27, 2016, which led to cancellation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010, certificate.

The CBI, subsequently in June, had lodged in the matter. Grover and Jaising approached the high court in July seeking that the FIR registered by the CBI against the NGO and them in June be quashed.

Following the relief granted to them, the CBI approached the top court and contended the High Court has neither rendered any finding as to how its FIR registered against the accused parties was "unsustainable and bad in law" nor referred to any finding as to how the continuance of the investigation against the accused would be contrary to law.