Context: Recently Supreme Court said  Central government that it cannot brand an organisation ‘political’ and deprive it of its right to receive foreign funds for using “legitimate forms of dissent” like bandh, hartal, road roko or jail ‘bharo’ to aid a public cause.
Current Scenario

• Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF) filed a petition challenging certain provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010 and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules of 2011,
• Under which the Central Government is conferred with unguided and uncanalised power under these Laws to brand organisations ‘political’ and shut down their access to foreign funds. 
• The FCRA 2010 prohibited acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality for any activities detrimental to the national interest, it the court said.

Provisions of FCRA Challenged in INSAF case

• Section 5 (1) of the FCRA : This provision allows the Centre a free hand to decide whether a seemingly non­political organisation was actually political in nature.INSAF argued that Section 5(1) was vague and thus unconstitutional. 
• Section 5 (4) of the FCRA : INSAF argued that the provision did not exactly identify the authority before which an organisation could represent its grievance. In conclusion, The apex court dismissed the contention made against both these provisions of FCRA.
• INSAF had also challenged the various clauses of Rule 3 of the 2011 Rules. This provision identified the various types of ‘political’ activities for which/organisations whose foreign funding could be stopped by the government.

About Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010

• Foreign funding of voluntary organizations in India is regulated under FCRA act and is implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The Acts ensures that the recipients of foreign contributions adhere to the stated purpose for which such contribution has been obtained.
• Under the Act, organisations require to register themselves every five years.
• As per the amended FCRA rules, all NGOs registered or granted prior permission under FCRA are now required to upload details of foreign contributions received and utilized by them every three months on their website or the FCRA website.
• The new FCRA rules ensure that the human interface with foreign-funded NGOs is minimized, with all queries and replies to applicants to be made through emails.
• The number of application/intimation forms has been cut from 10 to six, and the number of documents to be attached with applications also significantly reduced. The list of purposes for which foreign contribution can be utilized has been rationalized.
• NGOs now need to file their annual returns online, with the hard copy version dispensed with. The annual returns must be placed quarterly on the NGO’s website or the FCRA website maintained by the home ministry.