PM CARES Fund Not A Fund Of Government Of India, Cannot Be Labelled ‘Public Authority’: PMO To Delhi High Court

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has told the Delhi High Court that the PM CARES Fund is not a “State” under Article 12 of the Constitution of India and does not constitute as a “public authority” under Right to Information Act, 2005.

The affidavit filed by the Under Secretary of PMO states that the PM CARES Fund has been set up as a Public Charitable Trust and that it is not created by or under the Constitution of India or the Parliament or any State Legislature.

PM Cares Fund Not A Fund Of Government Of India, Cannot Be Labelled ‘Public Authority’: Prime Minister's Office To Delhi High Court @nupur_0111 https://t.co/XHDOEIYXnr

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“This Trust is neither intended to be or is in fact owned, controlled or substantially financed by any Government nor any instrumentality of the Government. There is no control of either the Central Government or any State Governments, either direct or indirect, in functioning of the Trust in any manner whatsoever,” the affidavit states.

PMO has further stated that PMCARES Fund accepts only voluntary donations by individuals and institutions and that the contributions flowing out of budgetary sources of Government or from the balance sheets of the public sector undertakings are not accepted.

“Contributions made to PMCARES Fund/Trust are exempted under the Income Tax Act, 1961, but that by itself would not justify the conclusion that it is a "Public Authority,” it said.

It has further submitted that the fund cannot be called a public authority as the cause for which it was created is “purely charitable” and that neither the funds are used for any Government projects nor is the Trust governed by any of the Government policies.

“So, the PMCARES cannot be labelled as 'Public Authority'. The contributions as well as corpus of PMCARES has no remote nexus with the Consolidated Fund of India,” the response adds.

Stating that the fund or trust does not owe its genesis to a decision or function of the Government, the PMO has said that the PM Cares Fund does have any government character "as no guidelines can be laid down for disbursement of the amount from the funds." 

The affidavit adds that the contributions made to PM Cares Trust enjoy exemption under Income Tax Act like other private trusts.

“That the PM CARES Fund is a public charitable trust comprising of voluntary donations made by individuals and institutions and is not a business of the Central Government. Besides, the PM CARES Fund does not receive funds or finances by the Government,” the response adds.

It has also been submitted that the PM CARES Fund along with grants sanctioned from the fund are available in public domain on the website “pmcares.gov.in” and that its Audited Reports are already available on the website.

“Subsequent audited details of accounts will also be made available on the website, as and when due. Hence, assumptions of the petitioner regarding arbitrariness or non-transparency are devoid of merit,” the response states.

The PMO has also argued that the PM CARES Fund is administered on the pattern of Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) as both are chaired by the Prime Minister.

The reply adds that just like National Emblem and domain name 'gov.in' are being used for the PMNRF, the same are also being used for PM CARES Fund.

“The answering Respondent respectfully submits that the composition of the Board of Trustees consisting of holders of public office ex officio is merely for administrative convenience and for smooth succession to the trusteeship and is neither intended to be nor in fact result into any governmental control in the functioning of the Trust in any manner whatsoever,” the reply adds.

The PMO has opposed the plea moved by Samyak Gangwal who has sought a declaration that PM CARES Fund is "State" under Article 12 of the Constitution of India.

Questioning the locus standi of the petitioner, the affidavit states that the plea is based on “apprehensions and suppositions” and that a constitutional question should not be decided in vacuum.

“The present petition although admittedly has been preferred in vacuum, by way of clever drafting, attempts (however fails to establish) to espouse and agitate a cause of certain groups with vested interest for extraneous reasons,” the response reads.

Gangwal has sought a declaration of the PM CARES Fund as a State. This, he said, would attract consequential directions for disclosing the Fund's audit reports periodically; the Fund's quarterly details of donations received, utilization thereof and resolutions on expenditure of donations.

In the alternative, it is contended that in case PM CARES Fund is not a State under Article 12, then the Centre should widely publicize that it is not a Government owned fund. The petition also seeks that PM CARES Fund should be restrained from using "PM" in its names/ website, State Emblem, domain name "gov" in its website and PM's Office as its official address.

Title: Samyak Gangwal v. CPIO, PMO