NEW DELHI: Determined to fix accountability for lakhs of NGOs that received government grants of more than Rs 6,600 crore between 2002 and 2009, the Supreme Court asked the Centre on Wednesday to explore the desirability of a new law to regulate fund utilisation by the bodies.
"Whatever be the method, we are clear that NGOs and voluntary organisations must give audited accounts of utilisation of funds received from governments. After all, it is taxpayers’ money," a bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justices D Y Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul said.
Pursuant to the SC’s January 10 order to audit the accounts of all 35 lakh NGOs, of which less than 10% file their audited accounts regularly, the government had framed guidelines requiring NGOs and voluntary organisations to register with Niti Aayog for accreditation to receive public funds.
The guidelines also proposed that NGOs must furnish a bond equivalent to the grant given to them, which would be encashed by the government if funds were misused or misappropriated.
On Wednesday, the bench saw merit in the suggestion of amicus curiae Rakesh Dwivedi, who said it would be better to provide a statutory framework to regulate funding of NGOs and their audit rather than administrative guidelines as proposed by the Centre.
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