PM CARES Fund a charitable trust, not controlled by Central or State governments: Central Government to Delhi High Court

The Central Government has told the Delhi High Court that the PM Cares Fund is not created under the Constitution or parliamentary law but has been established as an independent public charitable trust. .In a detailed affidavit submitted before the High Court, the Centre stated that the government, including the Central and State governments, have no direct or indirect control over the functioning of the fund."There is no control of either the Central Government or any State Government/s, either direct or indirect, in functioning of the Trust in any manner whatsoever," the affidavit said.Pertinently, it was also stated that the PM CARES Fund comprises of voluntary donations and does not receive any government support and does not accept contributions flowing out of budgetary sources of government or from the balance sheets of the public sector undertakings.It further stated that PM CARES is not a "public authority" within the meaning of Section 2(h)(d) of the Right to Information Act and, therefore, provisions of RTI Act cannot be made applicable on the trust.The affidavit was filed in response to a plea seeking declaration of the PM CARES Fund as 'State'. .The Central Government filed the response after the High Court, in July 2022, had expressed its displeasure over its earlier response which was barely one-page long..Senior Advocate Shyam Divan appeared for the petitioners today and argued that High functionaries of the government like the Vice-President had requested the Rajya Sabha members to make donations. He said all these high functionaries are very responsible people and the PM Cares Fund has been projected as a government fund..The response by the government said that the Central and State governments have no control over the PM Cares Fund..The government further said that presence of public office holders on the board of trustees is for administrative purposes only and does not indicate government control or influence."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," it was submitted..Further, the Central Government stated that the PM CARES Fund, a public charitable trust, functions transparently and its funds are audited by a chartered accountant whose reports were available to the public on the website pmcares.gov.in..It was also highlighted that the fund is administered similarly to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund and hence, uses the same emblem and domain name 'gov.in'."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 affidavit said..The affidavit said the petition is based on assumptions and fails to show that the petitioner is personally affected, and is therefore liable to be dismissed.