Delhi High Court has been informed by PMO in the response to a petition seeking that PM -Cares fund declared as ‘Trust’ under Article 12 of the Constitution, that PM Cares fund is not a Government of India fund and it’s not a consolidated fund of India.
Under Secretary filed an affidavit at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) stating that the trust functions with transparency and its funds are audited by an auditor/chartered accountant drawn from the panel prepared by the Comptroller Auditor General of India.
According to the petition the PM Care find, because of its high government functionaries represented that the fund was set up and operated by the government of India whose Trustees are Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Home Minister and the Finance Minister.
Apart from that whether the trust is State or other authority within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution or whether it is the public authority within the meaning of provisions of The Right to Information Act (RTI), It is not permissible to disclose third party information and the expenditure of the trust fund displayed on the website which includes all the donation received by the trust that is received via online payment cheque and demand draught and the amount received which is audited with the audited report.
There is no point for any objection in uploading all its resolutions on its website to ensure transparency because the trust function on the principle of transparency and public good in larger Public Interest like any other Charitable Trust. On 27 September, Chief justice DN Patel and Justice Amit Bansal have fixed the matter for further hearing.
