The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursdaycarried out searches at homes and offices of Supreme Court lawyer IndiraJaising and her husband Anand Grover in connection with an alleged violation offoreign funding rules for their NGO Lawyers Collective.

The searches are taking place at the Delhi and Mumbaioffices of the NGO, officials said on Thursday. Officials did not give anydetails of locations where searches are going on, they said. Anand Grover,husband of former Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Indira Jaising was bookedby the CBI for alleged Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act violations inreceiving foreign aid. When contacted, Anand Grover asked not to be disturbedas he was in the "midst" of it (searches), reported news agency.

WHAT IS THE CASE?

In May, the Supreme Court issued notices to Indira Jaising,her husband Anand Grover and their NGO Lawyers Collective, while hearing apetition filed by petitioner Lawyer's Voice seeking the status ofinvestigations into an alleged case of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation)Act (FCRA)violation by the NGO. The CBI had booked lawyer Anand Grover and hisMumbai-based voluntary organisation, Lawyers Collective, for alleged violationof rules in receiving foreign aid. The agency filed an FIR on the basis of acomplaint from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which alleged severaldiscrepancies in the utilisation of foreign aid received by the NGO.

The CBI booked Grover, the president of Lawyers Collective,and unidentified office-bearers of the organisation, besides unidentifiedofficials. The allegation was strongly disputed by Lawyers Collective in astatement issued in May.

Although the CBI had not named Grover's wife and formeradditional solicitor general (ASG) Indira Jaising as an accused in the FIR, thecomplaint filed by the ministry, which is now part of the FIR, had mentionedallegations against her.

WHAT ARE THE ALLEGATIONS?

The ministry alleged that Jaising, as the additionalsolicitor general (ASG) from 2009 to 2014, had received remunerations worth Rs96.60 lakh from the foreign contributions received by Lawyers Collective. Italso stated that her foreign travels as ASG were funded by Lawyers Collective,using such contributions, without prior approval of the ministry. The ministrysaid the ASG is paid by the government from the Consolidated Fund of India andcarries out very sensitive and high-level work, including, inter-alia, givingadvice to the government in legal matters, appearing in the Supreme Court andhigh courts on its behalf and representing it in any reference made by thepresident to the apex court.It alleged that Jaising violated the ForeignContribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) by "not seeking clearances from thegovernment for receiving foreign contributions in the form of remuneration fromthe organisation and accepting foreign hospitality while visiting a foreigncountry".

According to the ministry's complaint, Lawyers Collectivehad allegedly received foreign aid worth over Rs 32.39 crore between 2006-07and 2014-15, wherein irregularities were committed that amounted to violationof the FCRA, 2010.