A Supreme Court Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan on August 18, 2020 endorsed the PM CARES Fund as a “public charitable trust” to which donors contribute voluntarily.
The Bench refused to direct the transfer of funds from the PM CARES Fund to the NDRF. It observed that they were two separate entities.
NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation, represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, had argued that the PM-CARES Fund was not subject to CAG audit.
What the Court said?
There is no occasion for the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to audit a public charitable trust independent of budgetary support or government money.
It is not open for a PIL petitioner to question the “wisdom” that created the fund in an hour of need.
It was not under “public scrutiny”. Contributions to it were “100% tax-free”.
The court dismissed the idea that the PM CARES was constituted to “circumvent” the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) — the statutory fund already in existence under the Disaster Management Act of 2005 to receive contributions to finance the fight against a calamity.
What is PM-CARES Fund?
The trust fund named “PM’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES)” was announced by the Prime Minister on March 28, 2020.
This primary objective of this fund is to deal with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prime Minister is the Chairman of this trust and its Members include Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister.
Donations to this fund is exempted from income tax under section 80(G).
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