On Tuesday, the Union government told the Delhi high court that the PM CARES Fund was set up as an independent charitable trust and not as a result of the constitution or a law passed by parliament.
An affidavit obtained by Bar and Bench purports to show that the Central government categorically denied any “direct or indirect control over how the fund works”. This document further notes that “holders of Public Office ex Officio” make up the Board of Trustees for administrative convenience and to ensure a seamless transition of trusteeship.
Ex-officio trustees include the ministries of defence, home affairs, and finance, and the ex-officio chairman of the PM CARES Fund’s chairman, the Prime Minister of India. Justice (Retired) K.T. Thomas, Kariya Munda, and Ratan Tata are the three individuals who serve as trustees.
According to Bar and Bench, the government also stated that PM CARES does not receive any financial assistance from the government and is only supported by donations made voluntarily. Furthermore, PM CARES does not accept contributions from the government’s budgetary sources or the balance sheets of public sector undertakings.
In response to a petition seeking the declaration of PM CARES as a ‘state,’ the affidavit again stated that the fund is not a “public authority” under the Right to Information Act. It is, therefore, exempt from the Act’s requirements. This petition is submitted in response to an affidavit that requested PM CARES be recognised as a “state.”
An affidavit that the Central government filed stated that the fund operates “transparently and its funds are audited by a chartered accountant, whose reports were available to the public on the website pmcares.gov.in.”
The statement is given in response to the inquiry about whether the fund is open to audits and investigations. Since it is administered similarly to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, it shares its logo and the domain name (‘gov.in.’). The current petition is “based on assumptions and fails to prove that the petitioner is personally impacted,” as stated in the affidavit, and as a result, it may be dismissed.