Hyderabad-based Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF) has lodged a fresh complaint with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), seeking stringent action against Grace Service Society (earlier Gospel for Tribals Social Service Society) for what it termed as “serious and repeated violations” of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.
According to LRPF, the NGO operating from Khammam district of Telangana, has been misusing foreign contributions “in contravention of law, public order, and national interest.”
The complaint recalled that as early as May 2020, LRPF had flagged misuse of foreign funds by the organisation. It alleged that the society was running large-scale commercial poultry layer farms using foreign contributions, an activity barred under Section 8(1)(a) of the FCRA Act. Income from these ventures, LRPF said, was being funnelled into “religious conversion campaigns and church planting.”
Following our 2020 complaint, the NGO renamed itself as Grace Service Society.
In 2023, IT Dept unearthed ₹27.08 Cr undisclosed income in raids.
Shockingly, its 12A status still stands.
We have once again urged CBDT & MHA to cancel its 12A registration and FCRA license. https://t.co/agjh0Z2RLN
— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) September 19, 2025
LRPF further alleged that Bishop Jacob Marineni, the society’s chief functionary, has repeatedly maligned Hindu and Tribal cultural practices through speeches in India and abroad. On tours across Europe and the US, he is said to have exaggerated claims of Christian persecution in India, thereby misleading foreign donors and projecting a “false and negative image of the country.” Many of these speeches, according to LRPF, are still publicly available online.
The forum also highlighted that the NGO had changed its name from Gospel for Tribals Social Service Society to Grace Service Society, which it called “a deliberate attempt to obscure its targeted conversion activities among Tribal communities.”
The complaint drew attention to a 15 March 2023 search and seizure operation carried out by the Income Tax Department in Hyderabad. LRPF quoted findings from the raid, which allegedly uncovered:
During the Income Tax Department’s 2023 raid, investigators found that Grace Children School in Koheda had collected Rs 56.64 lakh in fees in FY 2021–22 but disclosed only Rs 8.11 lakh, thereby suppressing Rs 48.53 lakh. The probe also revealed the creation of bogus purchase invoices to generate unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 3.93 crore. Further scrutiny uncovered undisclosed assets and hidden investments worth several crores linked to associated entities, including M/s National Egg Stores and Julakanti Sukanya. In total, the undisclosed income was quantified at a staggering Rs 27.08 crore.
LRPF said this “corroborates the systematic financial fraud” it had flagged earlier. It also accused the NGO of diverting donations meant for social purposes, such as support for orphans, widows, leprosy patients, and the elderly, towards church construction, training of religious preachers, acquisition of immovable properties, and commercial businesses.
Quoting the FCRA Act, the LRPF argued that the activities fall within Section 9(e)(ii), (iv), and (v) since they are “against public interest, damage India’s foreign relations by peddling false persecution claims, and threaten inter-religious harmony.”
Calling for “urgent and exemplary action,” LRPF urged the MHA to launch a comprehensive probe into the NGO. It sought inspection of the orphanages run by the society to verify its claims, freezing of all bank accounts, and an immediate halt to further foreign inflows. The forum also demanded a ban on the sale or transfer of assets acquired through FCRA funds, particularly poultry farms, while insisting that any permissible contributions be strictly restricted to orphanages and educational institutions.
Additionally, LRPF pressed for a 15-year forensic audit of the NGO’s accounts, including scrutiny of the assets and income tax returns of Bishop Jacob Marineni, his family members, and associates. It further called for prosecution of the organisation’s leadership for inducement-based conversions, false declarations, and diversion of funds, culminating in the cancellation of its FCRA registration for repeated violations.
AS Santhosh, General Secretary of LRPF said, “The activities of Grace Service Society amount not only to financial fraud but also to a deliberate attempt to malign the nation’s reputation and disrupt communal harmony. The action against such entities will uphold the integrity of the FCRA framework and prevent further misuse of foreign contributions.
