Two months after the CBI began a preliminary inquiry into alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and an institution he founded, the Union Home Ministry (MHA) on Thursday cancelled the FCRA licence of Wangchuk’s NGO with immediate effect.
The move came a day after four people were killed in violence and police firing during a statehood protest in Leh. The MHA has maintained that the “mob was incited” by Wangchuk’s “provocative statements”.
In his order, Deputy Secretary (MHA) Rajesh Kumar T said: “Considering the facts and position narrated by the organisation, the Competent Authority, hereby, in exercise of the powers conferred under section 14(1) of the Act, cancels with immediate effect the FCRA Certificate of Registration granted to the association – Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh.”
The MHA noted that a Show Cause Notice (SCN) had been issued to the association on August 20, followed by an email on September 10, asking why its licence should not be cancelled. The association submitted its reply on September 19. After examining the response, the ministry concluded that several violations had been committed.
Among them, the MHA said, was a deposit of Rs 3.5 lakh in the NGO’s FCRA account during 2021–22 by Wangchuk himself, in violation of Section 17 of the Act. The association, in its reply to MHA, explained that the amount was the sale proceeds of a bus bought in 2015 from FCRA funds, and as per guidelines, the money was required to be deposited back in the FCRA account. But the MHA said no such credit entry was found. “It seems the amount has been received in cash in violation of Section 17 of the Act,” the order said, adding that the NGO had declared it as a donation from Wangchuk in its filings, but this did not reflect in the FCRA account — a violation of Section 18.
The ministry’s second observation was that during 2020–21, local funds of Rs 54,600 — contributed by three individuals — were deposited in the FCRA account, again in violation of Section 17. The association admitted this, but said it was a mistake: volunteers had paid for food and accommodation, and the money was wrongly credited to the FCRA account instead of the local account.
The MHA also said the association received Rs 4.93 lakh from a foreign donor, Framstidjorden of Future Earth Institute, in violation of Section 12(4). The NGO explained that the money funded workshops on migration, climate change, global warming, food security and organic farming — all in line with its objectives. But the MHA said the donor had also supported a study on the “sovereignty of the country” and that foreign contributions cannot be accepted for such purposes. “This act of the association is against the national interest of the country,” the order stated.
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Further, the ministry alleged that in 2020–21, the association received foreign contribution of Rs 79,200 that was not credited to its FCRA bank account. The NGO replied that this was not a separate inflow, but deductions made directly from staff salaries and fellows’ stipends as food fees, which were recorded in the books and spent on food.
