E-Paper
PM Cares a public fund, not intended to circumvent NDRF, govt tells Supreme Court
In a plea before the Supreme Court by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) seeking transfer of contributions made to PM Cares Fund till date to NDRF, the centre’s second senior-most law officer, solicitor general Tushar Mehta said that PM Cares Fund is a public charitable trust to which anyone can contribute.
The central government on Monday dismissed concerns that PM Cares Fund is intended to circumvent National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), a statutory fund created under section 46 of the Disaster Management Act of 2005 (DM Act) for dealing with disasters.
A three-judge bench headed by justice Ashok Bhushan reserved its verdict.
In a plea before the Supreme Court by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) seeking transfer of contributions made to PM Cares Fund till date to NDRF, the centre’s second senior-most law officer, solicitor general Tushar Mehta said that PM Cares Fund is a public charitable trust to which anyone can contribute.
“Whatever amount that has to go to NDRF under the law will go (to NDRF). PM Cares is a public charitable trust. If private individuals want to donate, they can do so. There are several public charitable trusts getting donations”, Mehta maintained. NDRF is funded through budgetary allocations, the law officer pointed out.
He was responding to the arguments of senior counsel Dushyant Dave, who claimed that PM Cares was a fraud on the Constitution and was intended to skirt the NDRF.
The PM Cares Fund was set up by the central government on March 28 as a public charitable trust with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation such as that posed by Covid-19 pandemic.
“See the objective of PM Cares. It is to be a dedicated national fund for distress situations such as Covid. This is a fraud upon Constitution. It’s a trust created to circumvent NDRF. It should be subjected to public scrutiny”, Dave, who was representing CPIL, said.
He pointed out that PM Cares is not subject to audit by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) but by private auditors.
“This government believes in transparency. Why should private auditors audit it (PM Cares)? NDRF under the DM (disaster management) Act is audited by CAG”, he argued.
The petitioner claimed PM Cares was set up in violation of the legal mandate under the DM Act according to which any grant made by any person or institution for the purpose of disaster management should be compulsorily credited to NDRF.
“Even though there is a provision for NDRF under Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, the central government has come up with a PM-CARES Fund. All the contribution being made by individuals and institutions in relation to Covid-19 crisis are being credited into the PM CARES Fund and not to the NDRF, in clear violation of Section 46 of the DM Act”, the petition added.
Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, who was appearing for an intervenor, pointed out that contributions made towards PM Cares come within the purview of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporates would, therefore, prefer making donations to PM Cares.
The Companies Act of 2013 mandates that companies having net worth of at least Rs. 500 crore, or turnover of Rs. 1000 crore or more or a net profit of at least Rs. 5 crore during immediately preceding financial year have to spend at least 2 percent of their profits towards activities listed as CSR activities under schedule VII of the Act.
“There are CSR benefits attached to this fund. Why will any person contribute to NDRF when they get so much relief under PM Cares?” Sibal asked
In its affidavit filed before the top court on July 8, the centre submitted that PM Cares is a fund established to carry out relief work and there are several such funds established on similar lines in the past.
“Mere existence of a statutory fund (NDRF) would not prohibit creation of a different fund like PM Cares Fund which provides for voluntary donations”, the affidavit said.