PM Cares Fund: A 3-judge bench of the Supreme Courtroom delivered the decision by means of video-conferencing.
New Delhi:
Cash collected underneath the PM CARES Fund for the coronavirus pandemic can’t be transferred to Nationwide Catastrophe Response Fund (NDRF), the Supreme Courtroom stated at the moment, including that it can not direct the federal government to take action and that funds collected by the PM Cares Fund are solely completely different and that these are funds of charitable trusts. The federal government is free to switch cash to the catastrophe response fund if it feels acceptable to take action, the highest court docket stated.
Any contribution or grant may be credited to the NDRF and anybody can contribute to this fund as a voluntary contribution, the highest court docket stated because it heard a petition towards the PM CARES fund by an NGO referred to as Centre for Public Curiosity Litigation, searching for a path that each one current and future fund collections contributions and grants underneath the PM CARES Fund for the COVID-19 pandemic ought to be transferred to Nationwide Catastrophe Response Fund. The petition stated PM CARES fund violates the provisions of Catastrophe Administration Act.
The court docket additionally stated there isn’t a want for a brand new plan and that one underneath the Nationwide Catastrophe Administration Act is sufficient to take care of COVID-19.
Prime Minister’s Citizen Help and Aid in Emergency Conditions (PM CARES) Fund was arrange by the centre on March 28 to take care of any sort of emergency state of affairs just like the one at the moment posed by the pandemic and supply reduction to these affected. The Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairman of the fund and the defence, residence and finance ministers are ex-officio trustees.
A 3-judge bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah delivered the decision at the moment by means of video-conferencing.
“Supreme Courtroom of India upholds the validity of #PMCaresFund. Refuses to instruct authorities to switch fund to NDRF. Hope that ought to ship out a message… loud and clear,” Union Minister Jitendra Singh tweeted quickly after the decision.
Supreme Courtroom of India upholds the validity of #PMCaresFund . Refuses to instruct Govt to switch fund to NDRF . Hope that ought to ship out a message…loud and clear.
— Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) August 18, 2020
Lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan too reacted to the decision.
Unlucky that the SC permits the non-transparent & unaccountable PM-Cares fund arrange as a secret belief to garner cash within the title of Covid reduction, slightly than transferring such funds to the Statutory NDRF which is accessible underneath RTI & audited by CAG. https://t.co/jZX6Q5Y8EJ
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) August 18, 2020
The Congress and others have questioned the authorized validity of the fund and questioned the necessity for it, pointing to the same Prime Minister’s Nationwide Aid Fund (PMNRF).
Issues have additionally been raised over company social accountability advantages denied to contributions to state catastrophe reduction funds, and the very fact the fund will not be underneath the audit of the Comptroller and Auditor Common of India.
The centre has defended the PM CARES Fund, saying it’s a voluntary fund whereas budgetary allocations took care of the catastrophe response fund. It argued that simply because the latter exists doesn’t prohibit the creation of the PM Cares Fund for voluntary donations.
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