Former head of Amnesty India, Aakar Patel has been stopped at Bengaluru airport from boarding a flight to the USA. He took to Twitter to say that he is on exit control list. Patel tweeted that he obtained the passport back through court order.
immigration says CBI has put me on the list why @PMOIndia
— Aakar Patel (@Aakar__Patel) April 6, 2022
Patel said that the CBI officer informed him that he is on a Look Out Circular because of the case against Amnesty International India regarding the FCRA violations.
In November 2019, the CBI officers raided Amnesty India offices in New Delhi and Bengaluru where it had come to the fore that the organisation allegedly violated the FCRA (Foreign Currency Regulation Act) provisions. It was reported that activities carried out by Amnesty India were not commensurate to activities of for-profit company. These activities by Amnesty India were allegedly either prohibited or were regulated under the FCRA. The CBI had said that Amnesty International (UK) invested approximately 10 crore as fixed deposit (FD) in Amnesty India Private Limited, Bengaluru, by subscribing to the debt instruments, debentures.
In February 2021, the Enforcement Directorate attached movable properties of Amnesty India worth Rs 17.66 crore in a money laundering case. During the investigations, ED had found that after the cancellation of the FCRA license by the Indian government, Amnesty International India Foundation Trust and Amnesty entities adopted ‘new methods’ to receive money from abroad.
ED had registered case based on CBI’s FIR
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered an FIR against AIIPL, IAIT, Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT) and Amnesty International South Asia Foundation (AISAF) under sections of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and the Indian Penal Code (120-B which denotes criminal conspiracy). Based on CBI’s FIR, ED had registered a money laundering case against the NGO.
Aakar Patel has often taken to Twitter to share images of Modi bobbleheads and dolls where he is often seen scolding those dolls of PM Modi.
