Madras HC upholds denial of FCRA registration for Kodai-based Zen trust

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court upheld the rejection of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration to a Kodaikanal-based Zen Trust, observing that organisations engaged in upholding India’s civilisational heritage should be classified as educational or cultural institutions, while programmes involving worship and rituals would fall under the religious category.

“If the programmes of the applicant pertain to worship and rituals, they will fall under the religious category. Religious organisations whose activities do not affect the nation’s secular fabric and social amity are entitled to obtain FCRA registration. But organisations engaged in converting people from one religious faith to another shall be denied FCRA registration,” observed Justices GR Swaminathan and MD Sumathi.

The Bench made the observations while dismissing the trust’s contention that its activities at the Zen Meditation Centre run by a Christian priest in Kodaikanal could not be labelled as religious.

Relying on the submission of the Centre’s standing counsel that the author of the trust and the moving spirit behind the appellant organisation was an ordained Christian priest, Rev. Fr. Ama Samy SJ, the Bench observed: “One cannot forget the fact that Christianity is a messianic religion. Their theological and religious mission is to bring everyone within the fold of Jesus Christ. Unlike Hinduism, which is inclusive, the Abrahamic religions are inherently exclusive.”

Holding that Zen Buddhism is a variant of the Mahayana Buddhist school and therefore comes under the broader category of Buddhism, the Bench stated that as the trust had not properly identified its nature as a religious organisation in its FCRA application, its application was rightly rejected.

The Bench then drew a clear distinction between a religious organisation and a cultural or educational entity. An organisation primarily engaged in the systematic teaching of Vedanta, the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, Yoga and allied Indian Knowledge Systems through structured classes, residential courses, publications, research and preservation of manuscripts cannot be classified as a religious institution, it said.

“Indian Knowledge Systems would fall under the category of education or culture,” the Bench observed, noting that the National Education Policy, 2020 recognises IKS, philosophy and yoga as fields of study. The foreign contribution framework should operate in tandem with the NEP and should not classify organisations teaching such subjects as religious institutions, it said.

The Bench held that an application seeking FCRA registration should correctly disclose the nature of the applicant and the failure to do so would result in rejection. Even if all the details are in order, the authority is at liberty to reject the request, as there is no right as such to receive foreign contributions, but only a privilege, it said.