Quick Summary: The Salem Diocese Society's struggle with renewing their permission to receive foreign donations finally sees a resolution as the court dismisses the government's appeal, directing them to process the Society's application.
The Salem Diocese Society, known for its charitable work since 1975, faced a problem with renewing their permission to receive foreign donations. They needed to renew this permission to continue getting donations from other countries. However, a technical problem led to issues with their financial reports for the 2018-19 year.
The Salem Diocese Society thought they had submitted their 2018-19 reports, but a message on the website showed they hadn't. This glitch led to a series of legal problems as the government refused to renew their permission, saying they hadn't followed the rules.
Back in December 2023, the court allowed the Salem Diocese Society to pay a fine and fix their reports. The court expected the government to process the renewal positively after this.
"The assurance of the lawyer for the Salem Diocese Society that the renewal application will be considered positively upon completion of the process of compounding is specifically recorded."
Despite the court's order, the government was hesitant to renew the permission. They argued that the Salem Diocese Society had broken the rules by not submitting reports on time.
The court, led by Judges J. Nisha Banu and M. Jothiraman, wasn't impressed by the government's stance. They noted that the Salem Diocese Society had followed the court's previous orders by paying the fine and submitting the reports.
"Such a stand cannot be accepted, for it defeats the very purpose of the orders of the court and amounts to nothing but misuse of the legal process."
In the end, the court dismissed the government's appeal and directed them to process the Salem Diocese Society's renewal application within three weeks. This decision brings relief to the Salem Diocese Society, allowing them to continue their charitable work without further delay.
