Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, July 8: The adjudicating authority of the Enforcement Directorate has imposed a penalty of Rs 51.72 crore on Amnesty India International, and Rs 10 crore on its former CEO Aakar Patel for violation of The Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Both have received a show-cause notice from the authority for breaking the Foreign Exchange Management Act.
In order to support civil society operations in the nation by receiving remittances from its parent organisation, Amnesty International UK, the claimed FEMA violation relates to the borrowing and lending restrictions and amounts to Rs 51.72 crore.
The Adjudicating Authority of ED has adjudicated an SCN issued to M/s Amnesty India International Pvt. Ltd. (AIIPL) and its CEO Shri Aakar Patel for contravention of the provisions of FEMA and imposed a penalty of Rs 51.72 crores and Rs 10 crores respectively: ED pic.twitter.com/xyMJxWOcII
— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2022
“The Show Cause Notice (SCN) issued by ED had charged that during the period between November, 2013 and June 2018, remittance which was received by Amnesty India International and claimed as a receipt for Business and Management Consultancy and Public Relation Services for export of services to the foreign beneficiary is nothing but amount borrowed from overseas remitter, thereby violating the FEMA provisions,” ED said in a statement.
Amnesty India International is a subset of Amnesty International Ltd. UK, which the adjudicating body of ED determined was established for the purpose of social operations in India.
In violation of Regulation 3 of the Foreign Exchange Management (borrowing and lending in Foreign Exchange) Regulations, the investigation agency claims that the funds that reached AIIPL through inward remittances totaling Rs 51.72 crore are actually funds that Amnesty International lent to AIIPL in order to achieve its goals in Indian territory.
