CBI cracks whip on Lawyers Collective

Central Bureau of Investigation has raided five places in Mumbai and Delhi in connection with investigation against Lawyers Collective, an NGO under the scanner for allegedly misuse of foreign funds.

CBI representatives said that searches were still going on in the case and that they have found incriminating documents.

In Mumbai, two office premises of Lawyers Collective and the residence of senior lawyer Anand Grover, the President of the NGO were raided. In Delhi, the office and residence of Grover were also searched. The raids are continuation of a First Information Report (FIR) that the CBI filed on June 13 in Mumbai against Lawyers Collective.

The FIR was lodged after the Home Ministry wrote to the CBI alleging that the NGO has received ₹32.39 crore from 2006-2007 to 2014-2015.

The Home Ministry alleged that on inspection of book of accounts and records, the NGO had indulged in activities that would prima facie amount to violation of various provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.

Though Grover’s wife and senior lawyer Indira Jaising has been named in the FIR, the CBI maintained that she is not being raided. Speaking to journalists while the raid was being conducted at her Delhi residence, Jaising said that they (she and her husband) were being targeted for their human rights work.

Reacting on the raids, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “I strongly condemn CBI raids on well-known senior advocates Indira Jaising and Anand Grover. Let the law take its own course but subjecting veterans who have all through their lives fought for upholding the rule of law and Constitutional values is clear vendetta.”