Five transactions that formed basis of FCRA action against Sonam Wangchuk
The Union home ministry canceled the FCRA certification of Ladakh NGO SECMOL over five alleged financial violations, including improper foreign fund handling.
New Delhi:
₹3.5 lakh allegedly received over the sale of a bus. ₹54,600 deposited, allegedly inadvertently, in the wrong account. ₹4.9 lakh received from a Swedish organisation to research on “youth migration, food security and sovereignity of the country. ₹19,600 returned to an alleged donor during Covid. ₹79,200 as alleged food fees.
These alleged five violations were deemed sufficient by the Union home ministry on Thursday to cancel the FCRA certification of Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk’s non-governmental organisation, Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh(SECMOL).
According to the ministry’s order dated September 25, the MHA’s Foreigners II division, had first served the NGO a show cause notice on August 20, 2025, followed by a mail on September 10 asking why FCRA should not be cancelled.
SECMOL filed its reply on September 19. The MHA said that SECMOL(referred to as association in the order) was granted registration under Foreign Contribution(Regulation) Act 2010, to accept Foreign Contribution(FC) for undertaking cultural and educational programmes.
{{/usCountry}}SECMOL filed its reply on September 19. The MHA said that SECMOL(referred to as association in the order) was granted registration under Foreign Contribution(Regulation) Act 2010, to accept Foreign Contribution(FC) for undertaking cultural and educational programmes.
{{/usCountry}}The first violation flagged by the ministry was about Wangchuk depositing ₹3.5 lakh in the FCRA account. To this , SECMOL replied that the amount was sale proceeds of an old bus procured on July 14, 2015 out of FCRA fund and reiterated that the sale proceeds of any asset procured from FCRA funds must be deposited in the FCRA account according to the rules.
{{/usCountry}}The first violation flagged by the ministry was about Wangchuk depositing ₹3.5 lakh in the FCRA account. To this , SECMOL replied that the amount was sale proceeds of an old bus procured on July 14, 2015 out of FCRA fund and reiterated that the sale proceeds of any asset procured from FCRA funds must be deposited in the FCRA account according to the rules.
{{/usCountry}}The home ministry, however, said that the reply was “not tenable” and cited the fact that the amount was shown as “foreign donation from Wangchuk.”
{{/usCountry}}The home ministry, however, said that the reply was “not tenable” and cited the fact that the amount was shown as “foreign donation from Wangchuk.”
{{/usCountry}}“Although credit entry of this much amount is not found in the FCRA account of the association. It seems that the amount has been received in cash in violation of section 17 of the Act which is not properly disclosed by the association in its reply,” the ministry noted.
Second, the ministry said that during 2020-21, local funds amounting to ₹54,600 were deposited in the FCRA account of the association by three individuals ( ₹18,200 each) in violation of section 17 of the Act.
According to the order, SECMOL replied that the money received from volunteers for food and accommodation was “mistakenly transferred” to the FCRA account instead of the local account. “Our website clearly specifies that Indian volunteers should transfer contributions to the local account and foreign volunteers to the FCRA account. Despite these instructions, the volunteers inadvertently sent to the wrong account,” the NGO said.
The ministry said the violation was admitted by the organisation.
Third, the ministry said SECMOL received ₹4,93,205 from a foreign donor. The purpose cited was educational and the specific activity was - “awareness on youth migration, food security and sovereignty”.
This is a violation because foreign contributions cannot be accepted for study on “sovereignty of the nation”, the ministry said.
The association confirmed receiving the amount from a Sweden based donor for an educational programme for youths for creating awareness among youth on issues such as “migration, climate change, global warming, food security and sovereignty, and organic farming through different workshops and training:.
It said -- “The funds were utilized strictly in line with the organisation’s objectives and for the specific purposes for which they were allocated. Hence all these activities were educational and there was no violation,”
But the ministry focussed on sovereignty.
“Association in its reply admitted that the donor organization has given the donation for study on sovereignty of the country including some other topics and the fund had also been spent in line with the objectives of the foreign donors. The foreign contribution cannot be accepted for study on sovereignty of the nation. This act of the association is against the national interest of the country in violation of section 12(4)()(0) of the Act,” the ministry said.
Fourth, the ministry said that as per the annual return of the association for 2021-22, the association returned an amount of ₹19,600 to the donor itself, which is a violation of conditions for registration. The donor shown to be from the IIM campus in Indore was refunded the money meant for food and accommodation for volunteering at SECMOL for one month due to the Covid-19 lockdown on June 30, 2021.
SECMOL,in its reply, according to the order admitted that ₹19600 received from Megha Sanghavi(donor) as foreign donation had been returned to her.
The ministry reported in its findings that there is no provision in the act for returning of FC to its donor. “The act of the association to return FC to the donor is likely to use the Foreign Contribution for personal gain or divert it for undesirable purposes in violation of conditions for registration under section 8(1)(a) of the Act,” the order signed by a deputy secretary said.
Fifth, the ministry noted alleged anomalies in the annual returns and the contribution received. The ministry said that while SECMOL’s annual return showed it had received ₹79,200 as foreign contribution, the money has not been credited to the FCRA bank account. The NGO replied that the amount was directly deducted from staff salaries and fellow stipends and so there was no separate transaction. “As the money was deducted at source as food fee, it was recorded in the books of accounts as food fee receipts and used for the same purpose,” it said.
But the ministry said - “As clarified by the association that the amount of Rs.79,200/- was directly deducted from salary of the staff it means that this amount was never disbursed to the staff and hence treatment of this amount as other receipts from projects/activities is incorrect as shown in Col.2(Ob)(1) of FC-4 for the financial year 2020-21. This indicates that the account of the association is not well maintained.”
