HC asks Centre's response on plea of Yuvraj Singh's NGO seeking FCRA renewal

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the Centre’s response on a plea filed by cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s NGO seeking an expeditious issuance of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration.

Justice Sanjeev Narula the issued notice to the Centre on the plea of NGO Yuvraj Singh Foundation and kept the matter on January 30, 2025, before which the authorities were directed to decide the petitioner’s revision plea.

The NGO said it had applied for the FCRA renewal on January 13, 2023, and after over a year’s delay, the authorities passed a non-speaking order on March 4, 2024, rejecting the plea.

The petitioner, represented by advocates Devadipta Das and Chaitanya Poonia, said they were not granted an opportunity of hearing, and thereafter, on March 21, 2024, the NGO filed a revision petition with the appellate authority which is pending.

“The petitioner has also been in constant touch with the FCRA authorities through their agents. Nevertheless, there has been no progress whatsoever and the petitioner is unable to receive and utilise foreign funds lying in their bank account to help the various socially marginalised patients and other individuals,” said the plea filed by advocates Nainshree Goyal and Raghav Bherwani.

The plea further argued several associate entities of the petitioner NGO were unable to transfer foreign funds to the petitioner and were therefore pressing for a refund of the funds to respective donors.

The NGO was said to be involved in providing monetary support for the treatment and education of cancer patients from marginalised sections from below 18 years age group, spreading breast cancer awareness across the country apart from conducting free screenings.

The organisation is unable to effectively contribute to such causes due to the actions of the authorities, it said and sought to receive and utilise foreign funds in the interim until the grant of the FCRA certificate.