India's Foreign Contribution Regulation Bill to be Discussed in Parliament Amid Christian Community Concerns

The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 is likely to be taken up for discussion in Parliament on August 12, The Indian Express has learnt. Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday and handed over a memorandum expressing concerns over the Bill. He said Shah indicated it would be taken up in the Lok Sabha on August 12 and had assured him it would carry no retrospective provision. “The Home Minister assured me that the retrospective clause will not be there,” he told The Indian Express. A Union minister, when asked about Lalduhoma’s claims, said the Bill could be taken up in this session. “There is nothing for the Christian community to fear in the Bill. This Act was enacted by the UPA government. In the Amendment Bill, there is no retrospective clause,” the minister said. The assurance comes amid concern among Christian organisations over a provision in the Bill that they say gives a government-designated authority retrospective powers over assets of organisations whose FCRA registration has lapsed. “We humbly submit that the FCRA Amendment Bill, 2026 and its Rules should operate prospectively. Retrospective application of regulatory provisions may create uncertainty and expose bona fide organisations to penalties for past procedural variations,” the memorandum submitted by Lalduhoma said. It added that organisations which voluntarily discontinued foreign funding or underwent restructuring should not be treated as defaulting entities, since such decisions reflected compliance and good faith, and their legitimately acquired assets, dedicated to public welfare, should remain protected. Following Lalduhoma’s meeting, a delegation of church leaders under the Joint Action Forum for Minorities, headed by DMK MP P Wilson, also met Shah. Wilson said the delegation had a detailed discussion with the Home Minister, who assured them he would look into their concerns. “We have demanded that the Bill, in its current form, be either withdrawn or sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee,” Wilson said. Jonathan Lalremruata, adviser and coordinator of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), earlier told The Indian Express that a CBCI delegation had received a similar assurance from Shah at a recent meeting. “When the CBCI delegation met the Home Minister, we were promised that the law will not be retrospective,” he said. A senior BJP leader said the assurance was part of the party’s outreach to minority communities. “It is a promise that the BJP has given to the minority groups,” the leader said. Another BJP leader from the South said the Bill would “demolish all the propaganda by the Congress and other vested interests that this is targeting Christians”. Why the BJP is treading cautiously The Bill is politically sensitive for the BJP, as many churches and Christian institutions have been built using foreign contributions regulated under the FCRA. With the party seeking to expand its footprint among Christians, particularly in Kerala, it is keen to address these concerns. A senior government official told The Indian Express that the Bill’s objective was to ensure continuity in the management of institutions in case of a break in their FCRA registration. “An interim management will take care of the property, and if the original owner or institution returns, it will be handed back to them. We are clear that a religious institution should be managed according to the practices of the religion it belongs to, and the Bill has been drafted accordingly,” the official said. The official also said the government wanted the Bill debated before it was passed. “The government wants the Bill to be discussed in Parliament, so it can be taken up only if there is an atmosphere for debate and passage,” he said. The controversy centers on a new chapter proposed to be inserted into the FCRA. Section 14B introduces the concept of “cessation” of an FCRA certificate, deemed to have ceased if an organisation does not seek renewal, renewal is refused, or it expires without being renewed. Under Section 16A, once a certificate ceases, foreign contributions and assets created from them vest in a government-designated authority; these may be returned if the organisation secures fresh registration, or otherwise vest permanently with the authority, which can transfer them to government departments or agencies or dispose of them as per law. The sharpest criticism was drawn by Section 16B, which applies the new framework even to assets already vested under the earlier law before the amendment. Critics argue that, combined with Sections 14B and 16A, could draw in organisations whose FCRA registrations lapsed years ago, even if they had stopped receiving foreign funds and were running entirely on domestic money. The government has maintained this was not the Bill’s intended effect.