NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against a person for allegedly registering a trust titled “Centre for Narendra Modi Studies” without prior approval from the Central Government or the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The FIR, lodged against a man named Jasim Mohammad on October 24, 2025, cites violations under Sections 3 and 5 of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950.
The Act prohibits unauthorised use of names and symbols associated with the government and its dignitaries. According to the FIR, accessed by The New Indian Express, the Trust was registered on January 25, 2021, under the Indian Trust Act, 1860.
The complaint originated from PMO, who forwarded a letter, along with a prior complaint from Mushtaq Ahmad Hussain, an advocate in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.
Subsequently a preliminary enquiry was initiated by the CBI on April 17, this year, which confirmed that the trust had been registered without the requisite permissions.
The findings led the agency to seek judicial approval for an investigation under Section 174 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
The permission was granted by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Rouse Avenue District Court, New Delhi, on October 14.
According to official sources, the probe has been entrusted to an Inspector-level officer of the CBI’s Special Crimes unit in New Delhi who will likely now look into the trust’s activities, sources of funding, and whether it projected any official association with the Prime Minister or the government.