Legal Validity of PM Cares Fund: Allahabad High Court issues notice to Central Government and NDMA on Review Petition

Legal Validity of PM Cares Fund: Allahabad High Court issues notice to Central Government and NDMA on Review Petition

The Allahabad High Court has issued notice to the Central Government and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) while hearing a review petition filed in a matter related to the legal validity of the PM Cares Fund.

A bench of Chief Justice Pritinkar Diwakar and Justice Soumitra Dayal Singh issued notice in this matter and sought response from the Center and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The bench will hear the matter in the last week of July.

The petitioner had filed a petition in the High Court on the same issue in the year 2020, which was dismissed by the High Court. Against which the petitioner filed an appeal in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, while dismissing the appeal, had asked the petitioner to file a review petition in the High Court.

The petitioner maintained that the PM Cares Fund was established without passing the law, and it was kept out of the purview of the Right to Information. The petitioner further argued that the PM Cares Fund undermines the NDMA.

The petition alleged that tax-free contributions are made to the PM-CARES Fund by various ministries and government agencies and departments on a regular basis.

The petitioner states that it is not appropriate for the Prime Minister to seek and promote contributions to the non-statutory PM Cares Fund instead of the NDRF.