The Delhi police special cell arrested two government officials, including one posted in the home ministry’s Foreigners Division, for allegedly seeking illegal gratification from an association in return for facilitating its pending registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), a government statement said on Tuesday.
“The officials, one working as a senior accountant and the other as an accountant, had allegedly approached an association and sought illegal gratification to facilitate its pending FCRA registration. The MHA issued a statement reiterating that all FCRA-related services are delivered online through the FCRA portal and that no intermediary, agent or individual is authorised to facilitate any such service.
the other is currently posted in a Pay and Accounts Office and had previously served in the Foreigners Division,” the spokesperson said While one of the officials is presently posted in the MHA’s Foreigners Division. The two were arrested on Monday after a tip-off by the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) about the two men who were allegedly taking money to get the FCRA registration cleared.
The amendments establish a designated authority for “a comprehensive framework for vesting, supervision, management and disposal of foreign contribution and assets, including provisional and permanent vesting. India enacted the first FCRA in 1976 to regulate the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contributions. As international engagement expanded and cross-border financial flows became more complex, Parliament enacted the FCRA, 2010, replacing the earlier legislation with a modern regulatory framework. Since then, the framework has been strengthened through amendments in 2016, 2018 and 2020. The home ministry introduced the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 and the notified FCRA (Amendment) Rules, 2026 to further improve transparency, governance and regulatory clarity. Earlier this month, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla constituted a 31-member joint committee of Parliament (JPC) to review the bill, after the proposal to send the controversial legislation to a parliamentary panel was accepted in the lower House. On August 12, the Lok Sabha referred the FCRA amendment bill to a JPC for an extensive review after multiple stakeholders, including church bodies, objected to the legislation’s provisions that allowed a Centre-appointed authority to take over assets created through foreign donations if the organisation failed to retain its FCRA license.
A provision stated that the government can appoint a “designated authority” to take over, manage, or sell assets created from foreign funds by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) whose licence under FCRA was cancelled, suspended, or simply not renewed.
