New Delhi: Income Tax department officials on September 7 conducted searches at the New Delhi office of the non-profit, independent think tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR), the non-governmental organisation Oxfam India and media funding body Independent and Public Spirited Media Foundation, according to reports.
The action at CPR, according to sources in the I-T department quoted by NDTV, is “connected to” simultaneous raids in Haryana, Maharashtra and Gujarat, among other places, “over funding of more than 20 registered but non-recognised political parties”.
Officials of the department have been inspecting the think tank’s accounts books since noon, says the report.
Founded in 1973, CPR states ‘asking the relevant questions and building evidence on key policy challenges in India’ as one of its objectives.
CPR is at present chaired by former Jawaharlal Nehru University professor and political scientist Meenakshi Gopinath.
Yamini Aiyar is its president and chief executive. Among other board members are former foreign secretary Shyam Saran, IIM Ahmedabad professor Rama Bijapurkar and Supreme Court advocate Shyam Divan.
According to Scroll, a person familiar with the situation confirmed that raids were conducted at Oxfam’s office.
Meanwhile, CNBC-TV18 reported that the IT department was carrying out “survey action” against the Independent and Public Spirited Media Foundation in Bengaluru. The foundation has granted funds to The Wire in the past.