CBI registers criminal case against Lawyers Collective, names lawyer Anand Grover in FIR

CBI has registered a criminal case against a Delhi-based NGO, Lawyers Collective, for alleged violations of the FCRA rules, officials said.

They said the FIR names Anand Grover, a trustee, and director of the organisation, as an accused. Grover is the husband of noted Supreme Court lawyer Indira Jaising.

Unknown officer-bearers and functionaries of the NGO and unknown private persons and public servants have also been made accused in the FIR filed under IPC sections that deal with forgery, cheating, and criminal conspiracy.

Sections of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 have also been included in the FIR by the central agency after receiving a complaint against the Collective from the Union Home Ministry.

The organisation, which had its inception in 1981, states on its website that it "is a group of lawyers with a mission to empower and change the status of marginalised groups through the effective use of the law, and engagement in human rights advocacy, legal aid, and litigation."