Key Points

A petition filed in the Madras High Court in April 2026 has alleged irregularities in fund collection through the NaMo app – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official mobile application. The plea seeks investigation into the BJP’s micro-donation campaign.

The plea, filed by Chennai-based journalist and RTI activist BR Aravindakshan, claims that donations collected in the name of Central Government schemes such as Swachh Bharat, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, and Kisan Seva were actually received by the BJP’s central office.

According to the petition, the alleged practice misled donors into believing that their contributions were supporting government welfare programmes. It has sought directions for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the Chennai police, and action against BJP leaders including former national president JP Nadda and NaMo app’s nodal contact person Amit Malviya.

The petitioner stated that he, along with “lakhs of citizens,” contributed through the NaMo app following appeals made by BJP leaders. He referred to a “special micro-donation campaign” announced by JP Nadda on 25 December 2021, which encouraged contributions to strengthen the party. The donation link used for the campaign was hosted on the ‘narendramodi.in’ website.

The plea further noted that PM Modi had also shared details of the campaign through his personal social media account, including a message that he had contributed ₹2,000 to the party fund. This, the petitioner argued, led many citizens to believe that their donations through the app were directly linked to government schemes.

Aravindakshan submitted that receipts issued for his own contributions were generated by the “Central Office, Bharatiya Janata Party,” despite being made under the names of government schemes. “These receipts showed that funds ostensibly collected in the name of Union government schemes were actually received by the central office of the political party,” the plea said.

The petition alleges that contributors were not clearly informed whether their donations were transferred to the government accounts of the schemes. It claims that the funds were instead treated as party donations, amounting to cheating and criminal breach of trust.

The petitioner also relied on responses obtained through multiple RTI applications to various government departments. According to the plea, these responses indicated that no ministry had authorised the NaMo app or any private entity to collect funds for the schemes in question.

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“The PMO has confirmed that there is no official app in the name of the Prime Minister of India and that no record exists with respect to any official connection between the NaMo App and the PMO,” the petition stated. It added that government departments had responded that information about the app was “not part of records held by them.”

RTI replies from ministries were cited to support the claim that there is no provision permitting individuals or organisations to raise funds for schemes such as Swachh Bharat and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao. In one response, it was stated that “there is no provision… regarding raising of funds by NGO or individual” for Swachh Bharat projects, while another noted that no permission had been granted to raise funds for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao through the app.

Separately, earlier RTI findings cited by the petitioner indicated that the BJP did not have authorisation from Union ministries or the Prime Minister’s Office to collect donations for government schemes. Despite this, the NaMo app and related website displayed options allowing users to donate under the names of these schemes.

The petitioner argued that the use of government scheme names in the app’s donation interface created an “illusion” of official authorisation, thereby inducing citizens to contribute. The plea described the campaign as involving “dishonest but sweet-coated online propaganda” that led to unlawful collection of public funds.

He further alleged that the actions constituted cognisable offences under laws including the Prevention of Corruption Act, provisions of the Representation of the People Act, and rules governing political party funding. The petition also sought an interim direction to restrain the operation of the NaMo app and associated website until the matter is resolved.

The petitioner also claimed that he had written to authorities, including the Prime Minister, relevant ministries, and law enforcement agencies, seeking clarification and action, but had not received satisfactory responses.

The matter is expected to be listed for hearing before the Madras High Court.

[DS]

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