NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to order transfer of funds received by the PM Cares Fund to the National Disaster Response Fund to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic, saying financial planning is the Centre’s domain.
The apex court held that both are entirely different funds with separate objectives and there is no need to transfer funds from one to the other. The ruling came on a petition filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, which argued that PM CARES is not subject to an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General .
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan held that the plan prepared by the government under the NDRF was sufficient to tackle the ensuing Covid-19 pandemic and there was no need for a fresh action plan.
“At this need of the hour no exception can be taken to the constitution of a public charitable trust, namely, PM CARES Fund to have necessary financial resources to meet the emergent situation,” said the bench, also comprising Justices R S Reddy and M R Shah. The court said there is also no statutory prohibition in making any contribution by any person or institution in the NDRF as per Section 46(1)(b) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
It added the Centre’s National Disaster Management Plan deals with all aspects of the biological and public health emergencies in a systematic manner. Therefore, there is no need for a separate plan to deal with the pandemic, it noted. “Financial planning is in the domain of the Central government, which is made after due deliberation and consideration. We, thus, do not find any substance in the submission of the petitioner that there is any statutory restriction/prohibition in utilisation of NDRF for COVID-19,” the bench in its 75-page verdict stated. The PM Cares Fund was set up by the Centre on March 28 as a public charitable trust.
Defining transparency
While the Cong termed the verdict a “body blow to transparency and accountability” of the govt, the
BJP claimed “transparency is writ large in the PM CARES Fund”