Organisations engaged in religious conversion shall be denied FCRA registration: Madras HC
The Madras High Court has ruled that religious organizations engaged in conversion activities should be denied registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). The court emphasized that while secular activities are protected, the government has the right to restrict foreign funds used for religious conversion.
Why it matters
This ruling sets a significant legal precedent in India regarding the intersection of religious freedom, foreign funding, and national secular policy.
A Division Bench of the Madras High Court (Madurai) has said religious organisations, whose activities would not affect the nation’s secular fabric and social amity, are entitled to obtain Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration. But organisations engaged in converting people of one religious faith to another shall be denied FCRA registration.
The court was hearing the Civil Miscellaneous Appeal filed by Kanzeon Public Charitable Trust in Kodaikanal in Dindigul district. The appellant, a trust founded in 2021 and registered under Section 12AB and 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961, sought certificate of registration under the provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010. The appellant’s application was rejected. Challenging the same, the appeal was filed.
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