Madras HC rejects Zen Trust's FCRA plea, says Hinduism inclusive, Abrahamic faiths exclusive

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday rejected a plea by Kanzeon Public Charitable Trust, which operates a Zen meditation centre in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, seeking Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act registration.

A Division Bench observed that Hinduism is inclusive while Abrahamic religions are inherently exclusive. The court noted that the Trust had wrongly projected itself as non-religious despite being engaged in religious programmes. The Bench held that Zen Buddhism is a variant of the Mahayana Buddhist school and that the organisation should have disclosed its religious nature when applying for FCRA registration.

The court upheld the central government's decision to deny registration, stating that organisations engaged in religious conversion cannot receive foreign contributions under the FCRA without proper registration.