The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Union government to file an affidavit in a plea seeking deletion of the photo and name of the Prime Minister from the PM CARES Fund’s official website.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and justice M.S. Karnik was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by Vikrant Chavan, a member of the Congress party.
The PIL sought a deletion of the PM’s name and photo along with images of the national flag and emblem of India from the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund’s official website.
“This is also an important issue,” the court told Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh. The Bench directed the Union Government to file its affidavit by December 23 and posted the matter for further hearing on January 3, 2022.
The petition said the name and photo in the website was violative 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 to extend support and relief for a public health emergency or any other kind of emergency or calamity. The fund trust claims to consist of voluntary contributions made by individuals/organisations and does not get any budgetary support from the government and the contributions made would qualify for 100 per cent exemption under the Income Tax Act.”
The petition argued that the trust did not discharge any governmental or sovereign functions. It was an admitted position that the trust was not a Government of India fund and the amount collected by it did not go to the Consolidated Fund of India.
“In such a position, it would be improper for the trust to use the name of the Prime Minister or his photograph and the image of the national flag and the Emblem of India on its official website,” the PIL said.
