Madras High Court backs Centre's FCRA refusal to Kanzeon Public Charitable Trust, citing undisclosed religious character and separating religious from cultural work

Key facts

• The Madras High Court upheld the Centre's decision to deny Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration to Kanzeon Public Charitable Trust, which runs a Zen meditation centre and Montessori school near Kodaikanal in Dindigul district.
• A Division Bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and MD Sumathi dismissed the trust's appeal, finding it had not accurately disclosed its religious character despite describing itself as non-religious while subscribing to Zen Buddhist philosophy.
• The court noted the trust's founder and 'moving spirit' is Rev Fr Ama Samy SJ, an ordained Christian priest, and observed that Christianity is a messianic religion whose mission is to bring everyone within the fold of Jesus Christ.
• The Bench observed that unlike Hinduism, which is inclusive, the Abrahamic religions are inherently exclusive, as devout Jews, Christians and Muslims believe theirs is the one true revelation.
• The court held that organisations involved in religious conversion should be denied FCRA registration, saying foreign-funded conversion activities could affect India's pluralistic character and potentially imperil national sovereignty, while clarifying it was not alleging the trust itself had a conversion agenda.
• The Bench stressed that the FCRA provision applies irrespective of religion, noting that a fundamentalist Hindu organisation engaged in Ghar Wapsi cannot be registered under FCRA.
• The court distinguished religious activities from the teaching of Indian Knowledge Systems, saying organisations teaching Vedanta, the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and Yoga should ordinarily be regarded as educational or cultural bodies.
• The 14-page order was pronounced on October 6 after the judgment was reserved on October 1, and concluded with a wordplay observing that the authority had to say 'Illa Samy' (No Sir) to the priest whose name translates as 'Yes'.