CPR published reports on air pollution, funded protests and legal battles against projects such as coal mines, government source says

The CPR said in a statement that the Ministry’s decision was incomprehensible and disproportionate, and some of the reasons provided challenged the very basis of the functioning of a research institution.

The Centre for Policy Research (CPR), diverted foreign donations to fund “protests and legal battles against developmental projects” and misutilised foreign contributions to “affect India’s economic interests”, a source in the government said on Wednesday. The government accused the think tank of violating the foreign fund norms as it engaged in the production of current affairs programmes, including ‘Overview on the Commission for Air Quality Management Act 2021, policy challenges for the new government’.

The government said publishing current affairs programmes using foreign funds is prohibited under Section 3 of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). The said section prohibits acceptance of foreign funds by political parties, public servants, judges, journalists, and the publisher of a registered newspaper or a company engaged in the production or broadcast of audio news or audio visual news or current affairs programmes through any electronic mode.

The CPR said in a statement that the Ministry’s decision was incomprehensible and disproportionate, and some of the reasons provided challenged the very basis of the functioning of a research institution. “This includes the publication on our website of policy reports emanating from our research being equated with current affairs programming,” the CPR said.

As reported first by The Hindu on Wednesday, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on January 10 cancelled CPR’s FCRA registration, making the organisation ineligible to receive foreign donations. The CPR is a leading public policy research institution in New Delhi.

Citing the details of the order, the source said that the CPR’s FCRA registration certificate was cancelled due to several violations of the FCRA, 2010.

“CPR is registered under the Act for carrying out educational activities. However, CPR used foreign funding for litigation activities. Some of the beneficiaries of CPR are also involved in protests against development projects, including coal mines,” the source said.

The source alleged that the CPR diverted foreign donations to a non-FCRA entity to fund protests and legal battles against development projects. “Foreign funding was used to fund paralegals for filing litigations. Funds found to be used for litigation matters include cases against coal mines/plants,” the source added.