A transparency activist has urged the Supreme Court to direct the Centre to place before it all data pertaining to the utilisation of the PM CARES Fund constituted to battle the pandemic.

Mumbai-based Saket Gokhale said this was necessary as citizens were not entitled to any information under the RTI Act on the fund. The Prime Minister’s Office had earlier said the fund would not come under the purview of the RTI Act, a stand upheld by the Supreme Court last year.

According to Gokhale’s petition, PM CARES had received donations from India and abroad and included salary contributions by employees and members of several ministries and PSUs. The PM CARES Fund is managed on a day-to-day basis by the under-secretary (funds) in the PMO.

Gokhale submitted that on May 13, 2020, it had been announced that over Rs 3,000 crore had been allocated from PM CARES towards Covid-19 management, of which Rs 2,000 crore would be earmarked for the purchase of ventilators, Rs 1,000 crore for the care of migrant labourers and another Rs 100 crore for support to vaccine development.

On January 5, 2021, it was announced that another Rs 201.58 crore had been allocated for the installation of 162 dedicated pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and medical oxygen generation plants inside public health facilities.

However, in the proceedings before Delhi High Court and in media reports, there have been conflicting reports on the actual installation of these plants and PSAs, Gokhale stated.

“The only information available in the public domain about allocations from the PM CARES Fund comes from statements and press releases issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). It is unclear whether, in addition to the allocations declared publicly, there have been other allocations made towards other Covid-19 related expenditure,” the petition said.

The petitioner said the Centre had submitted before the apex court that no money had been allocated or spent towards Covid-19 vaccine development, and so the government had no control over deciding the pricing of the vaccines.

“However, the PM CARES Fund itself has declared an allocation of Rs 100 crore towards vaccine development and it is unclear whether any additional funds were allocated for the same purpose,” the petition said.

“It is, therefore, clearly established here by the applicant that the PM CARES Fund has played a major role in matters related to supplies, distribution and making available resources needed for fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, the genesis of the PM CARES Fund itself was to establish a fund separate from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund which is solely dedicated to Covid-19 and other pandemic relief,” Gokhale said.

“Under the present circumstances, it is important that the PM CARES Fund make available all information to this Hon’ble Court on the various allocations it has made towards fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and how it has monitored the progress of projects to which monetary allocations were made,” the petition said.

Gokhale also submitted that the PM CARES Fund had claimed in various different ways that it was neither related to the government of India nor was it controlled by it.

However, Gokhale claimed, the PM CARES Fund was not only administered by the Prime Minister and other ministers but it had also presented itself as a government of India entity through the use of the national emblem on its logo, the .gov Internet domain that is restricted to government entities, and contributions from various ministries and PSUs.

“For the aforementioned reasons, the applicant contends that the PM CARES Fund is a non-governmental stakeholder that has been closely involved in decisions and projects that have been closely related to the distribution and supplies of essentials in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic albeit through the government of India,” the petition said.

“For that particular reason, the applicant contends that the PM CARES Fund must be made a respondent in the present case and asked to submit details pertaining to its Covid-19 relief-related projects and their present status.”

“The applicant, therefore, prays to this Hon’ble Court that the PM CARES Fund be (a) made a respondent in the present case, (b) asked to clarify details about the current status of the Fund and its links with the government of India, (c) asked to furnish details about funds allocated and progress made towards Covid-19 relief and the status of the projects sanctioned,” the petition added.