FCRA and Religious Organisations: Madras High Court Upholds Rejection of Zen Centre’s Registration for Not Declaring Its Religious Nature

In a ruling reported on 8 October 2026, a Division Bench of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court — Justices G.R. Swaminathan and M.D. Sumathi — dismissed a Civil Miscellaneous Appeal by the Kanzeon Public Charitable Trust, which runs a Zen Meditation Centre at Kodaikanal and was founded by a Christian priest, against rejection of its registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010. The court held that the trust had not correctly declared its religious nature in Form FC-3A (Rule 9, FCRA Rules, 2011), that religious organisations engaged in conversions shall be denied FCRA registration, and that only organisations whose activities do not affect the nation’s secular fabric and social amity are entitled to it.