Allahabad High Court: Notice Issued To Union Of India, NDMA; Review Plea Challenging The Validity Of PM CARES Fund

The Allahabad High Court in the case Divya Pal Singh vs. Union Of India And 2 Others observed and has issued a notice to the Union of India and the National Disaster Management Authority, NDMA in the civil review plea moved before the court challenging the validity of the PM CARES Fund.

The court in the case noted that in the month of August, 2020, the High Court in the case was hearing the plea moved by two High Court advocates named Divya Pal Singh and Anubhav Singh, wherein the court in the case rejected the challenge to the constitutional validity of the PMCARES Fund and the PMNRF in the light of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

In the present case, the petitioner was moved by the Supreme Court wherein challenging the order of High Court, However, The Supreme Court in the month of March 2022 observed and has directed the petitioner for filing the review before the Allahabad High Court. Following this, the court moved the instant review petition before the High Court.
The bench headed by Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh in the case observed and has issued the notice to the Union Of India and the NDMA and also granted them the liberty for filing their objection to the delay condonation application by the applicant.

The court in the case observed and has noted that the review petition before the High Court, which is being moved through Advocates Ankur Azad and Shashwat Anand, has been filed wherein it is stated that the PMNRF and PM-CARES are being unconstitutional and void, which is for not being backed by any law and for being at odds with the National Disaster Response Fund, NDRF which is being constituted by the Central Government as it has been stated under Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, DMA.

The petitioner in the plea stated that the money or the funds contained in the PMNRF and PMCARES Fund which is to be transferred or is credited in the NDRF. It has also been submitted by the applicant that the Government does not have the power in order to create a Trust, otherwise than by an authority of law, as per the Entry 10 of the Concurrent List as stated under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. Accordingly, the court listed the matter to be next in the next week of July.