Home Ministry Cancels FCRA Registration Of NGO 'SLIC' Headed By Justice Deepak Verma

The Home Ministry has cancelled the registration of NGO Socio Legal Information Centre (SLIC), of which former Supreme Court judge Justice Deepak Verma is the Chairperson. 

A search on the website of the Home Ministry shows that the FCRA License of Socio Legal Information Center (083780554) has been cancelled. Former Chairman of the Bar Council of India, Advocate Dhairyasheel Patil is Vice-Chairperson of the SLIC.

SLIC is the parent organisation of Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) which was founded by Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves.

As per its website, SLIC's mission is to create a justice delivery system that is accessible, efficient, accountable, affordable, and pro poor.

"SLIC views the legal system as a limited but crucial instrument for realising human rights. We believe that large scale struggles against human rights violations have to be waged by social and political movements, and that the legal system can play a significant supportive role in these struggles. We participate in the struggle for rights of the marginalized through various activities including public interest litigation, advocacy, legal awareness programmes, investigations into violations and publishing 'know your rights' materials", says the website of the NGO. 

HRLN is also a controversial NGO that has allegedly received funds from George Soros's NGO in the past. There were allegations that the NGO, which has been providing free legal aid to Rohingya Muslims in India was involved in the campaign against ISKCON's Akshaya Patra and in the anti-CAA protests.

On its website, SLIC which claims to provide pro bono legal services to marginalized people and make justice accessible to them and undertake public interest litigation to advance the state of human rights in the country, says it will not help the following categories of persons:-

"An employers against an employee when such case concerns terms and conditions of the employment

A non-Dalit against a Dalit in which allegations of atrocity as defined in the Prevention of Atrocities Act are made against him/her

Government organizations against individuals except in matters of rape and child sexual abuse

A man against whom allegations of sexual harassment, molestation, rape or other sexual abuse are made

Organizations/individuals accused of polluting/harming the environment

A person from a majority community in which allegations of communal hatred are made against him".

Legal advocacy group Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) which had alleged that HRLN was funded by European Church, has claimed that SLIC and HRLN have "inflicted unbearable damage to national interests", while announcing the cancellation of the FCRA registration of SLIC.