In a strongly worded letter addressed to Revenue Secretary Arvind Shrivastava, former Secretary to the Government of India, E.A.S. Sarma has urged the Ministry of Finance to examine whether the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) should initiate investigations into reports that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) engaged US-based lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs (SPB) by allegedly paying USD 330,000 (approx ₹2.75 crore).
Sarma’s letter refers to a lobby disclosure filed before the US Senate, which reportedly lists the RSS as a client of Squire Patton Boggs for lobbying activities involving American public officials. According to US-based media outlet Prism, the payments were routed through another lobbying firm, but on behalf of the RSS.
Sarma highlighted that the RSS is neither registered as a legal entity in India nor recognized under any domestic statutory framework for receiving or transferring funds. He pointed out that the organisation claims to be funded solely through voluntary contributions or Guru Dakshina made by its members.
“It is surprising that an unregistered body, financed purely through Guru Dakshina, could mobilize such a large sum of money for an international lobbying firm,” Sarma wrote. He raised a series of pointed questions:
- How did RSS, being unregistered in India, remit US dollars in its own name?
- Is the RSS registered under any legal framework in the United States?
- Are contributors funding RSS through Guru Dakshina aware that part of their donations may be used for lobbying efforts abroad?
- Was the remittance made through legally compliant channels, and has it been disclosed to Indian authorities?
Sarma also invoked past Income Tax Tribunal rulings which had granted RSS exemption on the grounds that funds collected as Guru Dakshina were voluntary expressions of gratitude. That rationale, he argued, cannot apply if the funds are now being diverted for foreign lobbying.
“The character of such funds undergoes a paradigm shift when they are used by the ‘Guru’ for engaging foreign agents to lobby with another government,” Sarma wrote.
The former bureaucrat urged authorities to determine whether the RSS has disclosed any foreign presence or branch to Indian tax regulators, whether any foreign remittance was made using legal channels, and whether the funds should now be treated as taxable, given their diversion from stated purposes.
He also argued that if the alleged transactions were carried out without proper FCRA/FEMA clearance, both the ED and CBDT are duty-bound to act.
The controversy intensified after reports revealed that Squire Patton Boggs also represents the government of Pakistan and was involved in Islamabad’s extensive lobbying campaign in Washington. A New York Times investigation earlier linked Pakistan’s lobbying activities, including payments to SPB, to favourable tariff concessions extended by the Trump administration. During the same period, India saw tariffs increased to 50%.
The revelation that the same firm is now claimed to be representing the RSS has sparked a political storm in India, with critics questioning alleged opacity in fund usage and the contradiction in RSS’s public stance versus its purported overseas operations.
Responding to the allegations, RSS spokesperson Sunil Ambekar dismissed the reports, stating:
“Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh works in Bharat and has not engaged any lobbying firm in the United States of America,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The denial has not deterred Sarma, who insists that the matter demands statutory scrutiny given the financial and regulatory implications.
Read More: Foreign Tax Credit Allowed Despite Nil Indian Tax Liability: ITAT
