Indira Jaising, Anand Grover Get Interim Relief in Corruption Case

Indira Jaising.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Indira Jaising)

The Bombay High Court on Thursday, 25 July granted interim relief to senior counsels Indira Jaising and Anand Grover in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) violation case and said no coercive steps can be taken on the basis of the case registered in May this year, ANI reported.

The CBI on 11 July searched residences and offices of human rights lawyers Jaising and her husband Grover, and Lawyers Collective in a case of alleged violation of rules in receiving and utilising foreign aid, attracting sharp reactions from politicians and activists.

The CBI had filed an FIR on 13 June against Grover who is the president of Lawyers Collective, a voluntary group known for raising human rights issues in courts of India, on the basis of a complaint by the Home Ministry that foreign aid received by the group was used in violation of norms.

“Mr Grover and I are being targeted for the human rights work that we have done over the years,” Jaising had told reporters after the raids.

CBI teams had searched Jaising's two houses in Nizamuddin, two offices of Lawyers Collective and a residence of Grover in Mumbai to carry out searches.

The CBI has alleged that during the year 2006 to 2014, Jaising and Grover entered into a conspiracy in Mumbai, Delhi and other places with an intent to cheat Government of India in the matter of misusing and diverting foreign contribution received by the Mumbai-based NGO.

It further alleged that foreign contribution to the tune of Rs 32.39 crore was received in the account of the NGO and the accused misutilised a sizeable amount of the foreign contributions received in Lawyers Collective’s account, thereby violating the provisions of FERA 2010.

The CBI action had evoked sharp reactions from politicians, activists and lawyers.

A statement from Opposition MPs termed the action as the “latest in a long line of coercion and intimidation” of Jaising and Grover which was “nothing short of a brute show of intimidation as well as gross abuse of power”.

The letter was signed by MPs from the Congress, TMC, SP, CPI and CPI(M).

It further said that the two who were well known for their “pioneering work” in the field of human rights had fully cooperated with authorities.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)