Delhi High Court directs Central government to decide Oxfam India FCRA registration application in six weeks

The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to decide within six weeks the application by NGO Oxfam India challenging the Central government’s refusal to renew its registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) [Oxfam India v. Union of India]..The Centre had refused to renew Oxfam’s FCRA registration in December 2021, after which the NGO filed a revision application in January 2022 However, no decision has been taken on the application till date.Justice Yashwant Varma passed the order today after noting that Oxfam’s application against rejection has been pending for over ten months, and therefore, it would be in the interest of justice that the government decides it within six weeks..During the hearing, Justice Varma expressed surprise at the fact that now even Oxfam has got into trouble. The judge asked counsel for the Centre,“You are after Oxfam? You don’t like them as well? They have been here for generations,” the judge remarked.When the government’s counsel responded that the FCRA license renewal has been denied by the Home Ministry, Justice Varma replied in a lighter vein that he would not say anything..The Court then directed the government to decide the NGO’s application in six weeks..In its plea filed through Advocate Prabhsahay Kaur, Oxfam has argued that the “apathy and inaction” of the Central government is having a crippling impact on the NGO, and has also adversely affected its multiple social work projects running in 16 states.“Despite the passage of 10 months and multiple reminders, there has been no progress on the Petitioner’s application. Petitioner has not been called for a hearing. No order has been passed on its application, which has simply been kept pending, thereby having the effect of debilitating the Petitioner organization, as well as the social causes it espouses, in multiple ways, as will be enunciated hereinafter.”.The plea argued that Oxfam came to India in 1951, and through the years, it has worked with the most disadvantaged sections of society on issues of human development and poverty alleviation, mostly in partnership with civil society and governments.“As part of its glorious history, it came to India to respond to the humanitarian crisis of the Bihar famine in 1951. In the later years, Oxfam entities in other countries were set up across the world. In India, Oxfam affiliates like Oxfam Great Britain, Oxfam Novib (Netherland), Oxfam Hong Kong, Oxfam Australia, and Oxfam Intermon (Spain) had their programmes across the country. In 1995, Oxfam International was formed to bring all Oxfams together as a confederation to maximize efficiency and achieve greater impact to reduce global poverty and injustice.”