FIR Against Narmada Bachao’s Medha Patkar, 11 Others for ‘Misuse of Funds’

Patkar, dismissing allegations said she has a full account of expenses, suggesting possible political motivation.

Medha Patkar.

(Photo: The Quint)

An FIR was registered in Madhya Pradesh's Barwani district against Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar and 11 others after a villager filed a complaint alleging the misuse of funds collected to manage educational facilities for tribal students, the police said on Sunday, 10 July.

Patkar dismissed the allegations against her and said that she had a full account and audit of the expenses and has suggested a possible political motivation behind the allegations.

The FIR was registered on Saturday following a complaint of one Pritamraj Badole, resident of Temla Bujurg village.

Badole alleged that the Narmada Navnirman Abhiyan (NAA), a Mumbai registered trust, misused funds originally collected for the functioning of residential education facilities for tribal students in Madhya Pradesh’s Narmada Valley, according to the FIR.

The complainant furthered that the NNA received Rs 13.5 crore from multiple sources over the last 14 years, but says that these funds were used for a “political and anti-national agenda,” demanding a probe.

"As the case is related to old transactions, a detailed investigation will be carried out," Barwani SI Deepak Kumar Shukla said.

The FIRs name several people, including: Medha Patkar, Parveen Rumi Jahangir, Vijaya Chouhan, Kailash Awasya, Mohan Patidar, Ashish Mandloi, Kewal Singh Vasave, Sanjay Joshi, Shyam Patil, Sunit SR, Noorji Padvi and Keshav Vasave.

"The case is related to two states – Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The documents and facts will be verified and all the parties concerned will be allowed to present their sides and facts. Further legal steps will be taken as per the facts that emerge during the investigation," the police said.

‘Complainant May Be Associated With the RSS and ABVP’: Medha Patkar

Patkar, dismissing the allegations said that she is yet to receive any information over the registration of the FIR.

She further claimed that it was not the first time that she was the subject of such allegations and further asserted that she was ready to respond to them as audits and accounts of the funds were available.

She also alleged that the complaint may be associated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and retired that her organisation does not receive funds from abroad.

"The funds were used appropriately and the 'jiwanshalas' being run at present have been there for the past three decades. The organisation has been involved in rehabilitation for decades. It has always given replies to such allegations with documents," Patkar said.

"Those who do the right thing by asking questions about the system are called anti-nationals. The public will decide," she said.

(With inputs from PTI)