law: Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976
  2. Definitions
  (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise
  
  requires,-
  (a)
  
  "association" means an association of individuals, whether
  
  incorporated or not, having an office in India and includes a society, whether
  
  registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860), or not, and
  
  any other organization, by whatever name called;
  (b) "candidate for 
  
  election" means a person who has been duly nominated as a candidate for election 
  
  to any Legislature;
  (c) "foreign
  
  contribution" means the donation, delivery or transfer made by any foreign
  
  source-
  (i) of any article,
  
  not being an article given to a person as a gift for his personal use, if the
  
  market value, in India, of such article, on the date of such gift, does not
  
  exceed one thousand rupees,
  (ii) of any currency,
  
  whether Indian or foreign;
  (iii) of any foreign security
  
  as defined in clause (i) of section 2 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act,
  
  1973 (46 of 1973).
  1[Explanation: A
  
  donation, delivery or transfer of any article, currency or foreign security
  
  referred to in this clause by any person who has received it from any foreign
  
  source, either directly or through one or more persons, shall also be deemed to
  
  be foreign contribution within the meaning of this clause;]
  (d) "foreign
  
  hospitality" means any offer, not being a purely casual one, made by a
  
  foreign source for providing a person with the costs of travel to any foreign
  
  country or territory or with free board, lodging, transport or medical
  
  treatment;
  (e) "foreign
  
  source" includes-
  (i) the government of
  
  any foreign country or territory and any agency of such government,
  (ii) any international
  
  agency, not being the United Nations or any of its specialized agencies, the
  
  World Bank, International Monetary Fund or such other agency as the Central
  
  Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify in this
  
  behalf,
  (iii) a foreign
  
  company within the meaning of section 591 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of
  
  1956), and also includes-
  (a) a
  
  company which is a subsidiary of a foreign company, and
  (b) a
  
  multi-national corporation within the meaning of this Act.
  (iv) a corporation,
  
  not being a foreign company, incorporated in a foreign country or territory,
  (v) a multi-national
  
  corporation within the meaning of this Act,
  (vi) a company within the
  
  meaning of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), if more than one-half of the
  
  nominal value of its share capital is held, either singly or in the aggregate,
  
  by one or more of the following, namely,-
  (a)
  
  government of a foreign country or territory,
  (b)
  
  citizens of a foreign country or territory,
  (c)
  
  corporations incorporated in a foreign country or territory,
  (d) trusts, societies
  
  or other associations of individuals (whether incorporated or not), formed or
  
  registered in a foreign country or territory,
  (vii) a trade union in
  
  any foreign country or territory, whether or not registered in such foreign
  
  country or territory,
  (viii) a foreign trust 
  
  by whatever name called, or a foreign foundation which is either in the nature 
  
  of trust or is mainly financed by a foreign country or territory
  (ix) a society, club
  
  or other association of individuals formed or registers outside India,
  (x) a citizen of a
  
  foreign country, but does not include any foreign institution which has been
  
  permitted by the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette,
  
  to carry on its activities in India;
  (f)
  
  "Legislature" means-
  (i) either House of
  
  Parliament,
  (ii) the Legislative Assembly
  
  of a State, or in the case of a State having a Legislative Council, either
  
  House of the Legislature of that State,
  (iii) Legislative
  
  Assembly of a Union territory constituted under the Government of Union
  
  Territories Act, 1963 (20 of 1963),
  (iv) the Metropolitan
  
  Council of Delhi constituted under section 3 of the Delhi Administration Act,
  
  1966(19 of 1966),
  (v) Municipal
  
  Corporations in metropolitan areas as defined in the Code of Criminal
  
  Procedure, 1973 (2 of.1974),
  (vi) District Councils
  
  and Regional Councils in the States of Assam and Meghalaya and in the Union
  
  Territory of Mizoram as provided in the VIth Schedule to the Constitution, or
  (vii) any other
  
  elective body as may be notified by the Central Government, as the case may be;
  2[(g) "political
  
  party" means-
  (i) an association or
  
  body of individual citizens of India-
  (1) which is, or is
  
  deemed to be, registered with Election Commission of India as a political party
  
  under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, as in force
  
  for the time being; or
  (2) which has set up
  
  candidates for election to any Legislature, but is not so registered or deemed
  
  to be registered under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order,
  
  1968;
  (ii) a political party
  
  mentioned in Column 1 of Table I to the notification of the Election Commission
  
  of India No. 56/J&K/84, dated the 27th September, 1984, as in force for the
  
  time being;]
  (h)
  
  "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
  (i) "registered
  
  newspaper" means a newspaper registered under the Press and Registration
  
  of Books Act, 1867(25 of 1867);
  (j)
  
  "subsidiary" and "associate" have the meanings,
  
  respectively, assigned to them in the Companies Act, 1956(1 of 1956);
  (k) "trade union"
  
  means a trade union registered under the Trade Unions Act, 1926 (16 of 1926);
  Explanation: For the purposes of
  
  this Act, a corporation incorporated in a foreign country or territory shall be
  
  deemed to be a multi-national corporation if such corporation-
  (a) has a subsidiary
  
  or a branch or a place of business in two or more countries or territories; or
  (b) carries on
  
  business, or otherwise operates, in two or more countries or territories.
  (2) Words and expressions used herein and not
  
  defined but defined in the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (46 of 1973),
  
  have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Act.
  (3) Words and expressions used herein and not
  
  defined in this Act or in the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (46 of 1973),
  
  but defined in the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (43 of 1950), or the
  
  Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951), have the meanings
  
  respectively assigned to them in such Act.