Congressman challenges PM CARES Fund in Bombay High Court

Vikrant Chavan, a member of the Congress has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the deletion of the words ‘Prime Minister’ from the PM CARES Fund trust, as well as the deletion of photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the national flag and the emblem of India from the trust’s website.

A Division Bench comprising Justices A A Sayed and S G Dige heard the matter yesterday and sought a reply on the petition from the Union Government.

Chavan, said in his PIL that the use of the Prime Minister’s photo and the national emblem is violative of the provisions of the Constitution of India andModi The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act.

The plea claimed 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 states.

Also see: Modi should be tried for misuse of national emblem, cheating, fraud and corruption