In July 2019, the Bombay High Court had given temporary relief to lawyers Indira Jaising and her husband Anand Grover in the CBI case against their NGO Lawyers’ Collective. The High Court had held that the CBI cannot take any coercive action against the NGO’s founders – Jaising and Grover. The Supreme Court today issued a notice to NGO Lawyers Collective and its founding members on the plea of CBI challenging the Bombay High Court order.
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The Supreme Court, however, refused to stay the Bombay High Court order ordering the CBI not to take any coercive measures against Lawyers Collective NGO or its founding members Indira Jaising and Anand Grover.
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Interestingly, the bench comprising CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justices Aniruddha Bose and Krishna Murari also dismissed the PIL filed by NGO Lawyers’ Voice, observing that since the action has already been taken by the CBI, the petition no longer survived. Lawyers’ Voice had sought criminal action against Grover and Jaising for alleged violation of Foreign Contributions Regulation Act by Lawyers’ Collective.
Read: ‘Vested interests or to gain cheap popularity’: Bar Council slams derogatory tweet by Indira Jaising
In June, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an FIR against Advocate Anand Grover and NGO Lawyers’ Collective for FCRA violations.
The FIR was filed under sections 120-B, 406, 120, 199 of the Indian Penal Code, 33, 35, 37, 39 of the FCRA, 2010 and other sections of the PC Act, 1988. The FIR also mentions several other office-bearers and functionaries of the NGO and unknown private persons and public servants under IPC sections that deal with forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy.
Read: The Judiciary is the new ideological battleground which is being exploited by career ‘activists’
The FRCA licence of the NGO was cancelled by the Modi government in 2016 for using foreign funds to achieve political objectives. Indira Jaising also appeared on behalf of one of the petitioners who wanted to desecrate the Sabarimala Temple.