The Enforcement Directorate said that it initiated action based on the information that Amnesty International in the United Kingdom had been remitting "huge amount" of foreign contribution through its Indian entities (non-FCRA companies) following FDI route. 

Amnesty India International Private Limited has been slapped with a penalty of Rs 51.72 crore while its former CEO Aakar Patel has been fined Rs 10 crore for allegedly violating the foreign exchange law.

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The Enforcement Directorate said that it initiated action based on the information that Amnesty International in the United Kingdom had been remitting a "huge amount" of foreign contribution through its Indian entities (non-FCRA companies) following the FDI route. The ED alleged this was being done to evade Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to expand its NGO activities in India.

The transactions were carried out although the Union Home Ministry denied prior registration or permissions to Amnesty International India Foundation Trust and other trusts under FCRA.

The show-cause notice of penalty was issued as the funds received "violated" Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) provisions, the Enforcement Directorate officials claimed.

The show-cause notice highlights Amnesty International India borrowed from overseas contributors between November 2013 and June 2018 but claimed that as a receipt for business consultancy and PR services. The ED says that is a clear violation of FEMA.

The agency said that Amnesty International India was involved in activities that were not relevant to their declared commercial businesses and tried to escape the FCRA scrutiny by applying the model to route foreign funds in the guise of business activities. 

In the absence of concrete evidence, AIIPL's contentions about the remittance claim towards the export of services to Amnesty International were dismissed. 

Consequently, the adjudicating authority of the probe agency ruled that funds worth Rs 51.72 crore that reached AIIPL through inward remittances were nothing but the funds lent by Amnesty International to AIIPL in violation of the provisions of Regulation 3 of Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing and Lending in Foreign Exchange) Regulations, 2000.

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