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Operation Mobilization India & Ors. vs. The State of Telangana & Ors.

Not available · 2024 INSC 275Decided 5 Apr 2024
Not available
Justice Vikram Nath · Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra

Background

Operation Mobilization India, an NGO running around 103 educational institutions and health centres, along with its office-bearers, faced an FIR from 2016 alleging offences under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act and IPC provisions relating to breach of trust and cheating. Years into the investigation, in November 2020, the Telangana CID froze the petitioners' bank accounts; the Telangana High Court upheld the freeze, leading to this appeal. In 2021, the Supreme Court had permitted the petitioners to operate their accounts to a limited extent (for staff salaries and institutional expenses) while the case proceeded, and a related contempt petition alleged the NGO had misused funds beyond that limited permission.

Decision Breakdown

The Court declined to go into the disputed factual question of whether the NGO had actually withdrawn money beyond the permitted salary and institutional-expense limits, leaving that issue open for the investigating agency or trial court to examine. Instead, to balance the ongoing investigation with the practical need to keep the NGO's schools and health centres running, the Court made its 2021 interim order permanent, the petitioners may continue using their accounts for salaries and institutional expenses, but added a safeguard requiring them to maintain complete, chartered-accountant-audited statements of accounts and share quarterly statements with the investigating officer or trial court. All other pending proceedings, including the contempt petition, were disposed of without any finding on the merits of the underlying allegations.

Lesson Learnt

Even where serious financial-crime allegations justify freezing an organisation's accounts during investigation, courts can craft interim arrangements, such as permitted limited use plus mandatory audited disclosure, that protect ongoing public-facing operations (like schools and clinics) without pre-judging the outcome of the investigation.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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