Opposition politicians and transparency campaigners have criticised the Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday not to order the transfer of contributions from the PM CARES Fund to the National Disaster Response Fund.
Also read: BJP president terms PM CARES Fund verdict a ‘resounding blow’ to Rahul Gandhi
“The SC judgment is a body blow to transparency & accountability of Govt to people,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a tweet. He added that it was a sad day for the responsibility and answerability of rulers to the electorate, speaking of the need to “remind them that they are not ‘Monarchs’ but ‘servants of the people’”.
“SC scrupulously believed that ‘sunlight is the best disinfectant’. Today, the Court, in a departure from that tradition, passed up an opportunity to demand answers on the #PMCaresFund that seeks public money but plays by its own opaque & murky rules,” he said.
Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan also expressed disappointment with the dismissal of the plea. “Unfortunate that the SC allows the non-transparent & unaccountable PM-Cares fund set up as a secret trust to garner money in the name of Covid relief, rather than transferring such funds to the Statutory NDRF which is accessible under RTI & audited by CAG,” he said in a tweet.
Also read: SC verdict on PM CARES ‘resounding blow to nefarious designs’ of Rahul Gandhi: Nadda
Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd) urged the government to encourage and drive contributions to NDRF instead of PM CARES. “Now when the nation is going through an unprecedented pandemic situation, additional funds are needed to meet the challenge. My question is — why is the National Disaster Response Fund not being publicised by the Government in campaign mode as was and is still being done for PM CARES Fund, which is being mentioned as a private registered trust?” he asked, noting that the National Disaster Management Authority’s website now contains details on how to contribute directly to the statutory fund.
“The PM CARES Fund has amassed huge amounts of money from PSUs, concerned citizens and foreign sources. The government has been stonewalling all attempts at accessing information regarding the utilization of the fund, claiming that it is not a public authority,” said Anjali Bhardwaj, co-convenor of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information.
“It is unfortunate that the court dismissed the plea seeking transfer of funds from PM CARES to NDRF, which would have ensured transparency and public scrutiny as NDRF falls within the ambit of the RTI Act and is subject to an audit by the CAG,” she said.
