‘I did not know that this visit would inaugurate the longest battle of my life’: Henri Tiphagne on 14 years of fighting the FCRA regime

On March 25, 2026, the Union government tabled the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha. The Bill – currently paused amid widespread backlash from civil society, and opposition leaders – proposes that if an organisation’s FCRA registration is cancelled, surrendered, or not renewed, its foreign funds and assets vest in a government-appointed authority, which may then manage or dispose of them. It is the latest step in a regulatory tightening that has already stripped over 21,000 organisations of their licences since 2014. We publish Henri Tiphagne’s account now because his 14-year struggle with the existing FCRA regime illuminates, in human terms, what the stakes of that tightening are, and what the new amendment would mean in practice. For a detailed breakdown of the 2026 Bill and its changes, read our explainer here.

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MAY 21, 2012, was the day. It was a Monday morning, and like any other busy day in our office, our colleagues were darting through the corridors. Advocates rushing to the courts, fact-finding teams getting geared up for their field investigation, our human rights education team returning from training and our Help Line unit, as always, busy with their clients. I, like any other day, was trying to hold everything together. 

We had visitors from the Ministry of Home Affairs (‘MHA’) who had stepped in after due notice to inspect our financial records. I did not know that this visit would inaugurate the longest battle of my life. They pored over our files, asked questions and took notes for the next four days, which followed hundreds of representations, court hearings and negotiations. Little did I know then that this would stretch over 14 years of my life and for 20,000 more organisations, like mine, within the next decade. 

From individual struggle to organisation 

In the 1980s, I had little interest in funded civil society organisations. Instead, I preferred the individual struggles and solidarity of grassroots movements. As a young lawyer then, I began my professional career specialising in criminal law under senior criminal lawyer, Mr. D. Sathosham. I occasionally  engaged with the then earlier avatar of the present Legal Services Authority, assisting underprivileged prisoners in their bail and other rights-based issues. Early on, my association with People’s Union for Civil Liberties (‘PUCL’) started when I was heading its Madurai District unit and participating in protest rallies alongside Justice V. M. Tarkunde, K. G. Kannabiran and other figures who deeply inspired me, leading me to eventually take up the role of the State Secretary of the Tamil Nadu PUCL under the Presidentship of Mr. K.V. Shankaran.

It was first in 1993 when I attended the Second World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna that I sensed the power of collective work and solidarity, where thousands of human rights defenders across the world came together. This then led to the founding of People’s Watch, in the year 1995, of which the legal holder was the Centre for Promotion of Social Concerns (‘CPSC’). 

Driven by mission and unusual self-accountability 

Early on, at People’s Watch, we began monitoring caste clashes and atrocities, documenting violations and convening public hearings, which translated to legal interventions, and at times international advocacy. Perhaps our advocacy at the United Nations was what unsettled the Union government. From the very beginning, we anchored our organisation in a clear set of values – honesty, integrity, and accountability. Far before the crippling Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act , 2010 (‘FCRA’), we had adopted accountability measures that would seem silly to the rest of the country.