Read Time: 05 minutes

The Prime Minister's Office in an affidavit before the Bombay High Court has denied all averments in a plea seeking deletion of the Prime Minister’s name and photograph from the PM CARES trust fund and also deletion of images of the national flag and Emblem of India from the official website.

The petition was filed by Congress party member Vikrant Chavan who urged the court to pass a direction to Union government to remove the “Prime Minister” from the trust fund “Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund”.

Besides, the PIL has sought that the photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Emblem of India and the national flag be deleted from the trust’s website.

PMO represented through Under-Secretary Pradeep Kumar Srivastava stated that "the PM CARES fund and the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) are both chaired by the Prime Minister. As the Name, Photograph of Prime Minister and National Emblem are being used for the PMNRF, they are also being used for the PM CARES fund."

The affidavit said that all the trustees of the PM CARES Fund act in a pro bono capacity. Whereas, the composition of the Board of Trustees consisting of holders of public office ex officio is merely for administrative convenience and for smooth succession to the trusteeship.

Earlier, the Bombay HC had sought the Union Government's reply in a plea seeking deletion of Prime Minister’s name and photograph from the PM CARES trust fund and also deletion of images of the national flag and the Emblem of India from its official website.

The plea stated that this was in violation of the provisions of the Constitution of India and The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act.

The trust was set up on March 27, 2020, as a public charitable trust in order to extend support and relief for a public health emergency or any other kind of emergency or calamity. The trust fund claims to consist of voluntary contributions made by individuals/organizations and does not get any budgetary support from the government. Besides, the contributions made to the trust fund would qualify for 100 percent exemption under the Income Tax Act.

“The trust does not discharge any governmental or sovereign functions. It is an admitted position that the trust is not a Government of India fund and the amount collected by it does not go to the Consolidated Fund of India,” stated the plea.

Case Title: Vikrant Chavan v. PM’s Care Fund