New Delhi Apr 26 PTI Cosy arrangements cannot be allowed under the law and the PM CARES Fund must either submit to the rigours of the Constitution or not publicise itself as State the Delhi High Court was told on TuesdayThe submission was made before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla which was hearing a petition filed by Samyak Gangwal seeking to declare the PM CARES Fund a State under the ConstitutionThe Centre urged the court to defer the hearing on the petition as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the petitioner was ambushing and questioned the source behind the pleaThe bench said it would accommodate the Centre and heard the senior counsel appearing for the petitioner before listing the case for the governments submissions on July 12On an affidavit filed by an undersecretary at the Prime Ministers Office PMO who is discharging his functions in the PM Cares Trust on an honorary basis the Centre has said the PM CARES Fund is not a government fund as donations to it do not go to the Consolidated Fund of India and no third-party information can be parted with irrespective of its status under the Constitution and the Right to Information RTI ActAppearing for the petitioner senior advocate Shyam Divan argued that nobody can contract out of law for the creation of a fund that receives public donations and has senior ministers as its ex-officio membersThe public has the right to know and the PM CARES fund must be governed by the principles of good governance transparency and accountability Divan saidWe do not know who is donating Transparency is essential to constitutional fabric he addedDivan said even though the cause and purpose behind the fund is laudable the law does not allow setting up a parallel entity that is outside the scope of the Comptroller and Auditor General CAGCan you have the speaker of the house and some members creating a trust and saying please donate Please assume that the cause is extremely laudable but does the Constitution allow you to set up something parallel and say this is not subject to any rigour of State and the CAG does not apply he askedDivan further submitted that if the respondents contend that the PM CARES Fund is State it cannot use the state emblem or use the official govin domain for its websiteEither you are State and submit to the rigours of the Constitution or do not publicise that you are State he saidCan we under the Constitution allow these cosy arrangements Not suggesting that any action is mala fide but the structure is legally obnoxious the senior advocate submittedThe petitioner has filed two petitions seeking a direction to declare the PM CARES Fund a State under the Constitution to ensure transparency in its functioning and also to declare it a public authority under the RTI ActThe petitioner has said the PM CARES Fund is a State as it was formed by the prime minister on March 27 2020 to extend assistance to the citizens of the country in the wake of a public health emergency -- the COVID-19 pandemic -- and if it is found otherwise the usage of the domain name gov the prime ministers photograph the state emblem etc has to be stoppedThe petitioner has said the trustees of the fund are the prime minister the defence minister the home minister and the finance minister and immediately after the formation of the fund the Centre through its functionaries represented that the fund was set up and operated by the Government of IndiaTo ensure transparency and accountability the plea has sought a direction for periodic auditing of the PM CARES website and a disclosure of the details of the donations received by itIn his alterative prayers the petitioner has sought a direction to the Centre to publicise that the PM CARES Fund is not a fund of the Government of India and to restrain PM CARES from using Prime Minister of India or Prime Minister including its abbreviations in its name on its website the trust deed and other official or unofficial communications and advertisementsIn its affidavit the Centre has said the PM CARES trust functions with transparency and its funds are audited by an auditor -- a chartered accountant drawn from the panel prepared by the CAGIt has vehemently contended that irrespective of the status of the Prime Ministers Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund PM CARES Fund under the Constitution and the RTI Act it is not permissible to disclose third-party informationIt has said the trust receives all donations via online payments cheques or demand drafts and the amount received is audited with the audited report and the expenditure of the trust fund displayed on the websiteThe officer who filed the affidavit has also said he was discharging his functions in the PM CARES Trust on an honorary basis and it was a charitable trust not created by or under the Constitution or by any law made by Parliament or a state legislature PTI ADS RC

New Delhi Apr 26 PTI The Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that issues such as lack of proper infrastructure to cater to the growing need of the judiciary and the bar in the national capital can be looked into in consultation with the apex court registry A bench comprising Justice Vineet Saran and J K Maheshwari termed as horrible the crowd situation in the apex court corridor and said something can be done by the central governmentWe do not go around in the corridors It is horrible Something has to be done by the Centre the bench said adding it was not for the court to solve the problemSolicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre said it was not an adversarial litigation and he was in touch with the government and the matter can be heard after four weeksThe bench took note of the submissions and said the problems pointed out in the petition can be looked into by the Centre in consultation with the apex court registry and petitioner lawyer and listed the PIL for hearing on July 20The top court on March 8 had sought responses of the Centre and the apex courts registry on a PIL filed by bar leader Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad seekingdevelopment of a judicial vista near the apex court premises to cater to the growing need of judicial infrastructure for all courts including the subordinate judiciary tribunals the Delhi High Court and the bar in the national capitalOn Monday the bench said it wanted to know the stand of the Central government on the plea and listed the matter on Tuesday to hear from the solicitor general on the issueThe PIL has also sought a direction to the Union Ministries of Law and Justice and the Housing and Urban Affairs to constitute a central authority funded by the Consolidated Fund of India to cater to the need of judicial infrastructure under the administrative control of the Chief Justice of India CJIThe lack of judicial infrastructure that is courtrooms basic amenities etc for judges advocates and litigants across the country in the subordinate judiciary and tribunals is a very serious issue and the lack of autonomy of the judiciary in the matter and the dependence on the Central Government and the State Government defeats the cause of judicial independence the plea saidThe judicial infrastructural independence is quintessential for the furtherance of the cause of judicial independence and hence the need to set up a National Judicial Infrastructure Authority and falls within the most basic fundamental rights of the constitution it saidThe administration of justice is the most important part of the Constitution and is the basis for the Rule of Law which is enshrined in Article 14 of the ConstitutionHaving proper and adequate infrastructure for the apex court of the country with its growing volume of work and the growing Bar is essential for the realisation of the rule of lawIt has sought construction of a large multi-level complex of courtrooms with 45 to 50 courtrooms with video conferencing facilities and adequate seating facilities for lawyers litigants law clerks and internsIt has also sought the construction of a multi-level complex having around 5000 chambers for senior advocates advocates-on-record and advocates along with requisite facilitiesBesides the plea had also sought proportionate creche facilities to cater to the several women working in the registry and women lawyers PTI SJK DV DV

New Delhi [India], April 26 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on a petition seeking direction to prepare the layout and execute the work of construction of the "Judicial Vista" over the land adjoining the present premises of the apex court.

New Delhi [India], March 29 (ANI): Minister of State for Ministry of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, on Tuesday, informed Lok Sabha that no immigration fees has been collected by the Immigration Authorities from the people going abroad.

New Delhi [India], March 24 (ANI): The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Appropriation Bill, 2022 authorising payments from the Consolidated Fund of India after demands for grants being guillotined for several ministries.

New Delhi Mar 24 PTI The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Demands for Grants and Appropriation Bill 2022 authorising the government to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Fund of India for its working as well as implementation of programmes and schemes for the fiscal beginning April 1 This completes two-thirds of the budgetary exercise by the Lok Sabha The Appropriation Bill authorising payment and appropriation of specified sums from the Consolidated Fund of India for 2022-23 was introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman The bill was later approved by voice vote after rejecting several cut motions moved by opposition members The Lok Sabha earlier discussed demands for grants of different ministries including railways road transport and highways civil aviation commerce and industry and port shipping and waterways Speaker Om Birla later applied the guillotine after which all the outstanding demands for grants whether discussed or not were put to vote at once and passed After that the Appropriation Bill was taken into consideration and passed by the lower house of Parliament The Lok Sabha will now discuss the Finance Bill which essentially contains the governments tax proposals The budget exercise will complete with the passage of the Finance Bill Both appropriation and finance bills are classified as money bills which do not require the explicit consent of the Rajya Sabha The upper house only discusses them and returns the bills After the passage the Finance Bill enters the statute as the Finance Act and the final Budget gets approved While guillotine literally is a large weighted blade used for executing a condemned person in legislative parlance to guillotine means to bunch together and fast-track the passage of financial business It is a fairly common procedural exercise in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session After the Budget is presented Parliament goes into recess for about three weeks during which the House Standing Committees examine demands for grants for various ministries and prepare reports After Parliament reassembles time is allotted for discussions on the demands for grants of some ministries PTI JD CS MR

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had told Parliament that the retrospective provision made in the bill was not “substantive” in nature. New Delhi: The Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed in Lok Sabha on Monday. The Act for consideration and passage will be presented in Rajya Sabha today. It seeks to replace the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will likely move the Bill in the second half of the Upper House proceedings.

New Delhi [India], October 29 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Friday set November 18 for a hearing on a petition relating to Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund).

New Delhi [India], October 11 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Monday adjourned till October 22, hearing on a petition relating to Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund).

New Delhi [India], September 23 (ANI): The PM CARES Fund is not a fund of the Government of India and the amount does not go in the Consolidated Fund of India, Prime Minister's Office (PMO) informed the Delhi High Court.