IIT DELHI- CLARIFICATION OF their STANCE
THE Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, clarified its stance on non-filing of its annual returns. It said that all higher education institutions set up by an Act of Parliament have been exempted from doing so on foreign contributions, they receive. The clarification came against the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) act of disallowing several hundred organisations, including prominent educational institutions such as Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi University (DU), IIT-Delhi and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), from receiving foreign funds and cancelled their registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) as they were unable to file their annual returns for the past five years. No organisation or institution is allowed to receive funds from abroad unless it is registered under FCRA, said the officials of MHA in support of this action. They said it is necessary for such organisations to submit their annual income and expenditure statements to the government.
Reacting to news reports on MHA’s action to cancel their FCRA license, IIT Delhi’s ssaid that “As you are aware that the Statutory Bodies created or established under the Central or State Act requiring to have their accounts compulsorily audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, is exempted from the operation of the provisions of the FCRA Act, 2010. This is applicable U/s (under section) 50 of the said Act.”
FAVORING ITS SIDE
IIT-Delhi further said that though being on the better side it was still filing returns. “It is also to mention that on above aspect, they have not been forwarded any information or notice about non filing of return or there is any other compliance pending. And the website of MHA displays the names, mostly of societies, NGO and trust,” the statement read.
