Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) fund was created by the Prime Minister of India on March 27, 2020 to extend assistance to people during the COVID19 pandemic.
A petition was filed which sought the PM-CARES Fund to be declared as ‘The State’ under Article 12 of the Constitution. The petition further contended that there is a need to ensure transparency while dealing with these funds.
The Centre has submitted its affidavit in response to the petition. The affidavit has been submitted before a Bench of the Delhi Court consisting of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh.
The Centre stated that the PM-Cares Fund is a charitable trust under the law, and not a fund of the Government of India. It is not intended to be or owned, controlled or substantially financed by the Union government, any state government, or any instrumentality of any government.
It was further stated that the PM-CARES Fund comprises voluntary donations made by individuals and institutions and is not a part of business or function of the central government in any manner and cannot be subject to audit of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
It was further stated that PM-CARES fund can neither be brought under the ambit of Right to Information (RTI) Act as it does not satisfy the definition of public authority under Section 2(h)of the RTI Act.
The Court has set the next date of hearing on September 27.
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