NET Bureau
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the PM Cares fund money cannot be transferred or directed to the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF). The fund was set up earlier in the month of March to deal with emergency situations.
SC refuses to direct transfer of contributions made to PM CARES Fund for COVID-19 pandemic to National Disaster Response Fund
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 18, 2020
The court clarified that the PM Cares fund is completely different from the NDRF and that corporates and citizens can always make voluntary contributions to the NDRF. Hence, there’s no need to transfer the money to NDRF.
The court further added that there was no fresh national disaster relief plan for the pandemic while disposing the petition.
The verdict was delivered on Tuesday by a three-judge bench of Justices , R Subhash Reddy, MR Shah and Ashok Bhushan through video conferencing. Questions have been raised on the legal validity of the fund by the Congress.
