Zakir Naik NGO ‘planned’ aid to Rajiv Gandhi trust

Controversial preacher Zakir Naik’s NGO, Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), wanted to donate a total of Rs 75 lakh to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) and not just Rs 50 lakh as discovered in an earlier investigation by the home ministry. That additional Rs 25 lakh, however, went to a Mumbai hospital which didn’t transfer it to the Trust but spent it.

Government sources said the NIA, which has conducted searches at several premises of the IRF after registering a case against it, has found documents that show that after receiving Rs 50 lakh from the NGO, RGCT was to receive another Rs 25 lakh from the IRF in November 2011, but the transfer of funds did not take place.

Sources claimed the Rs 25 lakh donation was supposed to be routed through a hospital in Mumbai. ‘In November 2011, IRF donated Rs 30 lakh to MH Saboo Siddiqui Maternity and General Hospital in Mumbai. It, however, asked the hospital to donate Rs 25 lakh out of this money to RGCT,’ said a home ministry official.

Confirming that the transaction happened in 2011, Dr A R Sumar, chairman of MH Saboo Siddiqui Maternity and General Hospital, said the IRF asked the hospital to transfer Rs 25 lakh of the Rs 30 lakh donation to RGCT. ‘We accepted the donation but refused to forward the amount to the Trust. Later, the entire Rs 30 lakh was utilised for hospital expenditure,’ Sumar told The Indian Express.

The 110-bed registered charitable hospital in Byculla is known for its subsidised dialysis services and maternity facilities. According to the hospital administration, about Rs 67 crore is received as donation in a year. The hospital has been functioning for 82 years now.

‘I cannot comment on specific allegations as that would need examination of records. But it is part of the IRF charter to make donations to hospitals and organisations engaged in social work. We also provide scholarships to students. The allegations of IRF having helped an IS recruit through scholarship is baseless as the cheque goes directly to the institution,’ said an IRF spokesperson.

During an earlier audit of IRF by the home ministry, several alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) were detected, including non-declaration of foreign funding of one million dirhams, foreign funding of Rs 10 crore being placed in fixed deposits, diversion of foreign funds to other end-users including the RGCT.

The home ministry had then found that the RGCT had received Rs 50 lakh from IRF in 2011, when the Congress was serving a second term in the government.

The RGCT, which has Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi in its board of trustees, earlier denied any wrongdoing on its part. The Congress had then acknowledged that the IRF had donated Rs 50 lakh to RGCT, but said the amount was returned when there was a controversy over Naik’s activities recently.

Asked whether the party should have exercised caution, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi had said: ‘I don’t know about caution, but I certainly think that certain amount of astrological talent must be exercised. Because at the time when this unsolicited, stray donation was received by the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust many many years ago, one would have to be a soothsayer or an astrologer as the donor organisation was not on any suspect list or watch list (then).’

Home ministry sources said the NIA has also found documents that show donations were made to education trusts in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Investigations have revealed that a donation of Rs 2.5 crore was made to Chaudhary Devi Lal Memorial Technical Education Trust, Sirsa, in March 2013. The Trust runs the Ch. Devi Lal State Institute of Engineering & Technology in Sirsa. An email sent to its director did not elicit any response at the time of going to press.

A donation of Rs 2 crore was also made to the Association of Management Studies in Meerut, UP, according to the probe.

Investigators have also found that IS recruit Abu Anas of Hyderabad received a total of Rs 1.5 lakh from IRF as scholarship in two tranches. ‘He was once paid Rs 70,000 and then Rs 80,000,’ said a home ministry official.

Source : The Indian Express