NGO v. NGO: Supreme Court issues notice in PIL seeking action against Lawyers Collective, Indira Jaising, Anand Grover

The Supreme Court today issued notice to Senior Advocates Indira Jaising, Anand Grover and NGO Lawyers Collective in a petition seeking an SIT probe into the inaction of the Central government against the lawyers and their organisation..The petitioner, Lawyers Voice, has said that the Centre should have registered cases against Jaising, Grover and Lawyers Collective for offences under the Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Prevention of Corruption Act and the Income Tax Act..The offences by the above respondents had led to the cancellation of their FCRA certificate. Yet the officers of Union of India did not register cases against the respondents for reasons best known to them, the petition states..The Union of India, either due to malafides or for extraneous reasons, have not taken action against respondents 2 to 4. The omission by the Central government has resulted in violation of fundamental rights of the petitioner, the petition states..The petitioner, despite being a voluntary organisation itself, has taken objection to other such organisations mushrooming in the country..The last two decades have witnessed mushrooming of several voluntary organisations which are funded by foreign sources which are trying to thwart the development of the country. Such voluntary organisations thrive on foreign funding and carry out various activities which are not in the interest of the nation, the petitioner alleges..The petitioner goes on a tirade against persons who manage such organisations. They project themselves as idealists, activists and social workers and under the garb and façade of such activism, try to terrorise the system, public functionaries, and work against the interest of the nation, it is contended..The petition calls for the Court to go into the funding pattern of Lawyers Collective to examine how much funds are utilised..The petitioner has sought a direction to the Central government for registration of an FIR against Jaising, Grover, and Lawyers Collective for offences under the IPC, PMLA and PC Act. The petitioner has also sought appropriate action for violation of the Income Tax Act..Meanwhile, Jaising, Grover, and Lawyers Collective have issued a press statement claiming victimisation for taking up the issue of sexual harassment allegations against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi..[Read Order].Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.