On Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate searched the offices of George Soros’ foundation, the Open Soros Foundation, and non-governmental organisations linked to the OSF, including Amnesty.
The searches are linked to an ongoing FEMA, or Foreign Exchange Management Act, case, said the officials.
Premised of former employees of Amnesty International (whose India operations shut down in December 2020, following the government froze its bank accounts alleging illegal foreign funding) were searched, as were those of current employees of Human Rights Watch, or HRW.
In the past, Amnesty’s India office and HRW both received funds from the OSF. The former has been charge-sheeted by the CBI and the ED has filed a complaint against the latter.
In 2022 Amnesty’s India chief, Aakar Patel was fined Rs 10 crore (and the NGO itself Rs 51.72 crore) for contravening the foreign exchange law, or the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
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