Public Interest Litigation seeking disclosure of information of source of funds of PM CARES and its utilization was refused by a division bench of the Delhi High Court on 10 June.
As no RTI application was filed by the petitioner regarding the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund), the refusal was done by the bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan.
The submission of the petitioner regarding data receipt and disbursement of funds uploaded on the official website did not match with the averments in the petition, which related only to the question as to whether the PM CARES Fund is covered under the Right to Information Act, 2005, noted the Court.
“.arguments as canvassed by the petitioner does not match the prayer made herein by the petitioner.Furthermore, as no application has ever been preferred by the petitioner seeking information under the Right to Information Act, 2005 from the respondents, we therefore see no reason to entertain this writ petition at this stage as public interest litigation“, observed the bench.
Read Also: Prime Minister’s Office says, Under RTI Act, PM CARES Fund Is Not A ‘Public Authority’
Withdrawal of the petition, with liberty to file a fresh petition with fresh prayers, averments and supporting grounds was sorted by the Court.
The liberty of the petitioner to prefer fresh proceedings before appropriate Authority / Tribunal / Court in accordance with lawwas granted andthe bench dismissed the writ petitionaccordingly.
The merits of the matter of PM cares fund were not looked by the Court.
Dr.Surender Singh Hooda through Advocate Aditya Hooda filed the petition.
On 10 June, a single bench of the Delhi HC (Justice Navin Chawla) in a related development sought the response of the Centre on a plea challenging the PMO’s order rejecting RTI application stating that PM CARES was not a “public authority” within the meaning of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act filed by one Samyak Gangwal.
Read the Order here:
