The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation's FCRA licence has been revoked by the government

Digital Desk: The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), a non-governmental organization linked with the Gandhi family, had its Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence revoked by the Centre on Saturday, according to persons acquainted with the matter.

According to a person familiar with the situation, the decision was made based on investigations conducted by an inter-ministerial committee constituted by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) in July 2020.

The official stated that a notice advising the RGF office-bearers of the termination of the FCRA licence had been sent. RGF had no reaction on the news.

RGF is chaired by former Congress President Sonia Gandhi, and trustees include former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, and members of Parliament Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

From 1991 until 2009, RGF worked on a variety of essential issues such as health, science and technology, women and children, disability support, and so on. According to its website, the foundation decided to focus on education in the future in 2010.

In July 2020, the MHA formed an inter-ministerial committee led by an Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigator to investigate three Gandhi family institutions — Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT), and Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust — for probable money laundering.

The committee, which included officers from the Union home and finance ministries as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was tasked with investigating whether the trusts run by the Gandhi family and other Congress leaders tampered with documents when filing income taxes or misused and laundered money received from foreign countries.

Sonia Gandhi's RGGT is likewise registered under FCRA, however it is unknown if any violations have been recorded against it. The MHA did not respond to a question addressed by HT on Saturday.

JP Nadda, the chairman of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claimed in June 2020, after a clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh, that the People's Republic of China supplied cash to RGF between 2005 and 2009 to conduct studies that were not in the national interest.

Nadda further claimed that the Prime Minister's relief fund had been diverted to the Gandhi family trust and that the RGF had received monies from fugitive billionaire Mehul Choksi.

The Embassy of the People's Republic of China and People's Republic of China is named as one of the donors in RGF's annual report 2005-06, which is published on their website.

According to an unnamed source close to RGF, the foundation's FCRA licence has been renewed for shorter durations of three to six months since 2020.

 "The whole targeting (Gandhis trusts) affair started with tax notices." The government has gradually assured that RGF receives no foreign money. It has put pressure on donors not to fund it, and the trust's financial licence has now been revoked," stated this source.