The Supreme Court has rejected the demand to transfer the PM Cares Fund to the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). After this decision of the court, the petitioners have suffered a major setback.The apex court pronounced the judgment saying that the PM Cares Fund is like a charity fund, so there is no need to transfer the amount deposited in it. The court made it clear that any person or institution can donate to the NDRF.The Court said, the Central Government is completely free to transfer its amount to the right place. The Supreme Court stated, there are no statutory barriers for any individual and corporates to contribute to the NDRF.
This petition was filed by NGO ‘Center for Public Interest Litigation’ through advocate Prashant Bhushan. The petition sought guidelines to prepare a national plan to deal with the epidemic fund received in PM care transfer to NDRF.The petition said that the amount received in the PM Cares Fund is not being audited by the CAG and is not being disclosed. The court had on July 27 reserved its decision on the matter. On 17 June, the court issued a notice to the Center. In its response, the Central Government had said that during the COVID-19 epidemic, the PM Cares Fund has been created for voluntary donations. This is different from statutory funds like NDRF
PM Cares Fund was created keeping in mind the need for a dedicated national fund with the primary objective of tackling any kind of emergency or crisis like COVID-19 epidemic and providing relief to the people affected by it, it is Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) fund isa public charitable trust that has been created under the name of Relief Fund (PM Cares Fund)
Abhishek Kumar @samacharline