New Delhi: The PM Cares Fund is neither a “public authority” as defined by the Right to Information (RTI) Act nor falls under the ambit of Article 12 of the Constitution, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) informed the Delhi High Court on Tuesday.
In an affidavit filed before the high court, Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, an under secretary at the PMO, said the PM CARES Fund is not created under any State legislature or the Constitution, but is a public charitable trust.
Article 12 of the Constitution defines “State” which includes the Government and Parliament and the Government and the Legislature of each of the States among others.
Incidentally, the RTI Act is applicable to all constitutional authorities, as well as any institution or body established or constituted by an act of Parliament or a state legislature.
According to the affidavit, Srivastava, despite being an officer of the central government, is permitted to discharge his functions in the PM CARE Trust on an honorary basis.
Opposing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Samyak Gangwal who wants the PM CARES to be declared as a “State”, the affidavit said the fact that contributions made to the fund are exempted under the Income Tax Act doesn’t mean that it is a “public authority.”
In another petition, Gangwal had sought for the fund to be designated as a “public authority” as per the RTI Act.
The PMO, meanwhile, claimed the Trust functions with transparency and its funds are audited by an auditor who is a chartered accountant drawn from a panel prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General. For transparency, it said, the audited report is put on the Trust’s official alongwith details of the utilisation of the funds it receives.
It denied the petitioner’s assumption regarding “arbitrariness or non-transparency”, saying his concern on these two aspects was “devoid of any merit”. There is also a proposal to make audited details of accounts available on the website, the affidavit submitted.
Stating that the fund or the Trust does not owe its genesis to a decision or function of the government, the affidavit reiterated that the Fund does not have any government character because it comprises voluntary donations made by individuals and institutions. Therefore, no guidelines can be laid down for disbursement of the amount from the funds, it said.
Besides, the PM CARES Fund does not receive funds or finances from the government and it is administered on the pattern of the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. Both are chaired by the Prime Minister, the affidavit said.
“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 PMO affidavit said.
Providing details of the “voluntary contributions” accepted by the Trust, the PMO stated that contributions flowing out of budgetary sources of government or from balance sheets of the public sector undertakings were not allowed. Conditional contributions, where the donor specifically mentions that the amount is meant for a particular purpose, are not accepted, it added.
“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 successions 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 affidavit mentioned, regarding government employees being part of the Trust.
“Also, simply because the Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister are ex-officio appointed in the management of the PM CARES Trust, it would not bring PM CARES within the definition of a ‘public authority’,” it submitted.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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