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The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea against Allahabad High Court order dismissing plea challenging the constitutional validity of PM CARES Funds.

A bench of Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice BR Gavai allowed the petitioner to withdraw the plea and move to the High Court while stating that, "tell the high court that certain grounds were not considered."

The bench was hearing a plea wherein it has alleged that the High Court dismissed the plea while overlooking the fact that the petitioner in the instant case had questioned the constitutional validity, both of the PM CARES Fund and the PMNRF, in the light of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the constitution of the National Disaster Response Fund by the Central Government thereunder, which is statutory fund created by due process of law.

It may be noted that the High Court had dismissed the petition while relying on the Judgment in the case of Centre for Public Interest Litigation vs Union of India while accepting the contention of the Respondents that the “the present matter is squarely covered by the said decision”.

The plea has stated that, "It is significant to state that the Citizen’s Right to Know and utmost transparency, in governmental affairs, is the hallmark and touchstone of a true “Democracy”."

"The ideals of Democracy can never be realized, unless there is transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the affairs of governance. The citizen’s right to information is increasingly being recognized as an important mechanism to promote openness, transparency and accountability in the affairs of the State," the plea added.

In addition to this, it was further argued that all the contributions made by the individuals and institutions in relation to COVID-19 are being credited into the PM CARES Fund and not in NDRF, which is a clear violation of Section 46 of the Act, 2005.

Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat along with Advocates Rajesh Inamdar, Shashwat Anand and Aldanish Rein appeared for the petitioners.

Case Title: Divya Pal Singh Vs. Union of India & Ors.