Central Information Commission
Kushagra Sinha vs Prime Minister'S Office on 27 October, 2023
Author: Suresh Chandra
Bench: Suresh Chandra
के ीयसूचनाआयोग
Central Information Commission
बाबागंगनाथमाग ,मुिनरका
Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka
नई द ली, New Delhi - 110067
ि तीयअपीलसं या / Second Appeal No. CIC/PMOIN/A/2023/625177
CIC/PMOIN/A/2023/625596
Kushagra Sinha ... अपीलकता /Appellant
VERSUS
बनाम
CPIO:
Prime Minister's Office, ... ितवादीगण/Respondents
South Block,
New Delhi
Relevant dates emerging from the appeals:
RTI : 08.03.2023 FA : 23.03.2023 SA : 22.05.2023
CPIO : 13.03.2023 FAO : 18.04.2023 Hearing : 25.10.2023
CORAM:
Hon'ble Commissioner
SHRI SURESH CHANDRA
ORDER
(26.10.2023) 1.1 The issues under consideration arising out of the second appeals dated 22.05.2023 include non-receipt of the following information sought by the appellant through the RTI application dated 08.03.2023 and first appeal dated 23.03.2023:-
• Information on the following points is sought in relation to the working of the Office of the Honble Prime Minister of India in relation to the setting-up and functioning of the PMCARES Fund:
(i) Minutes of meetings/decision making process/consultation undertaken by the Honble Prime Minister of India/Office of the Prime Minister of India to set up the PMCARES Fund.Page 1 of 8
(ii) Receipt(s) of the remittance/payment/transfer of the initial corpus money of 225,000/- by the Prime Minister of India/Office of the Prime Minister of India to the PMCARES Fund.
(iii) What Source/Bank Account/Instrument was used to transfer the initial corpus of the PMCARES Fund from the Prime Minister of India.
(iv) Minutes of meetings/decision making process/consultation/Order undertaken by the Honble Prime Minister of India/Office of the Prime Minister of India in appointing the Officers of the Prime Ministers Office as Secretariat/in-charge of the PMCARES Fund.
(v) Minutes of meetings/decision making process/consultation undertaken by the Honble Prime Minister of India/Office of the Prime Minister of India in appointing/nominating the Trustees of the PMCARES Fund.
(vi) CertifiedcopiesofOM/Directives/Directions/Recommendations/Guidelines /Circulars given to the Government Employees by Department concerned to donate money in the Fund.
(vii) Certified copies of OM/Directives/Directions/Circulars by different Government Departments/Ministries deducting salary of Government Employees for deposit in the PMCARES Fund.
• Kindly provide information on the following points regarding PMCARES Fund:
(i) Minutes of all meetings held by the PMCARES Fund till date with certified copies.
(ii) Minutes of meeting held by the PMCARES Fund appointing authorised signatory for its Bank accounts.
(iii) Detailed particulars of foreign funding/donations received by the PMCARES Fund with breakup and donor details.
(iv) Minutes of meetings/decision making process undertaken by the PMCARES Fund in appointing independent auditors.
(v) Detailed breakup of the fee payable to the auditors of the PMCARES Fund.Page 2 of 8
(vi) Certified copies of OM/Directives/Directions/Recommendations/Guidelines/
(vii) Circulars given to the Government Employees by Department concerned to donate money in the Fund.
(viii) Certified copies of OM/Directives/Directions/Circulars by different Government Departments/Ministries deducting salary of Government Employees for deposit in the PMCARES Fund.
(ix) Certified copy of license/permit issued to PMCARES Fund by the Government of India/Office of the Prime Minister of India to use the Indian National Emblem.
(x) Certified copy of minutes/decision making process/consultation undertaken by the Government of India/Office of the Prime Minister of India before granting consent/license/permission to the PMCARES Fund to use the Indian National Emblem.
(xi) Certified copy of consent/decision making process/consultation undertaken by the Government of India/Office of the Prime Minister of India before granting permission/license/consent to the PMCARES Fund to use the name and photograph of Prime Minister.
(xii) How much donation has been received by the PMCARES Fund from body-
corporates? Please specify details of the donors.
2. Succinctly facts of the case are that the appellant filed an application dated 08.03.2023 under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) Prime Minister's Office, New Delhiseeking aforesaid information. The CPIO vide letter dated 13.03.2023 replied to Appellant, denying disclosure of information. Aggrievedby the same, the appellant filed first appeal dated 23.03.2023. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) vide order18.04.2023 replied to appellant and disposed of the appeal. Aggrieved bythat, the appellant filed second appeal dated 22.05.2023 before the Commission which is under consideration.
3. The appellant has filed the instant appeal dated 22.05.2023inter alia on the grounds that reply given by the CPIO was not satisfactory. The appellant requested the Page 3 of 8 Commission to direct the CPIO to provide the complete information and take necessary action as per Section 20 (1) of the RTI Act.
4. The CPIO replied vide letter dated 13.03.2023 which is reproduced as under:
"PM CARES Fund is not a Public Authority under the ambit of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005. However, relevant information in respect of PM CARES Fund may be seen on the website-pmcares.gov.in"
FAA vide order dated 18.04.2023 upheld the CPIO's reply.
5. The Appellant approached the High Court of Allahabad with Writ Petition (C) No. 7779/2023 claiming that he had filed two second appeals before the CIC which had been pending listing and hearing since 30.05.2023. The Hon'ble High Court passed an order dated 21.09.2023 with a direction to consider deciding the appeals within six weeks from the date of production of certified copy of the order.
6. The appellant's advocate Shri Skand Bajpai and on behalf of the respondent Shri Pravesh Kumar, Under Secretary/CPIO, Prime Minister's Office, New Delhi attended the hearing through video conference.
6.1. The Appellant inter alia submitted that the PM CARES Fund came into existence by virtue of a registered Trust Deed dated 27.03.2020 executed by the Prime Minister of India. Article 6 of the Deed envisages provisions regarding the Board which includes the PM, Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Finance of the Government of India who are all ex officio trustees of the Board. It is his contention that perusal of the Trust Deed, the articles 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18 to mention a few indicate that the Fund is under deep and pervasive control of the Government of India.
6.2. He further pointed out that the Fund uses the "State Emblem of India" (an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Asoka), use of which is governed by the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005 and the State Emblem of India (Regulation of Use) Rules, 2007. Moreover, the Fund usesdomain name ".gov.in" and the Office of the PM officially. It is his contention that on the Page 4 of 8 aforementioned premise, the Fund set up by the Government should be declared a public authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.
6.3. He further referred to the Office Memorandum eF. No. CSR-05/1/2020-CSR- MCA dated 28.03.2020 specifically pointing out the opening paragraph stating as follows:
"The Government of India has set up the 'Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund' (PM CARES Fund) with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation such as that posed by COVID 19 pandemic"
6.4. It has been also pointed out by the Appellant that two communications dated 30.03.2020 and 01.04.2020 of the Ministry of Defence on "Donation of one Day's salary to PM CARES Fund" whereby appeal had been made to employees of the Ministry to donate one day's salary to the Fund, with the approval of the Minister of Defence. He referred to a similar communication dated 17.04.2020 issued by the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, whereby appeal had been made to the employees seeking donation of one day's salary to the Fund. It has been contended by the Appellant that ex officio trustees of the Fund control the affairs of the Fund and use their authority in the Government to cater benefits/approval for the Fund, indicating deep and pervasive control of the State over the affairs of the Fund. The Appellant contended considering the deep and pervasive control and a great share of the Fund's corpus is formed indirectly by the Consolidated Funds of India, the Fund is eligible to be declared as public authority, as held by the Apex Court decision in the case of Thalappalam Service Coop. Bank Ltd. vs. State of Kerala [2013 (16)SCC 82].
The final limb of arguments placed forth by the Appellant was that the PIO's reply indicated that procedure as laid down under Section 7 of the RTI Act for disposal of RTI queries was not followed inasmuch as the information sought by him was not denied invoking any provision under Section 8 or 9 of the RTI Act. He further alleged that Page 5 of 8 FAA's order also indicates lacks of application of mind in adjudicating the queries and instead a blanket denial of information under the garb of the claim that the Fund is not a public authority. Concluding his arguments, the Appellant contended that simply because the issue as to whether the PM CARES Fund is pending adjudication before the Delhi High Court, it cannot debar this Commission from deciding the same issue.
7. The respondent while defending their case inter alia submitted that the issue as to whether the PM CARES Fund is a public authority as defined under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act is pending adjudication before the Division Bench headed by the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court as Writ Petition (Civil) No. 3430/2020. The issues raised by the Appellant, in these appeals, form part of the pleadings in the aforementioned writ petition, which is scheduled for hearing on 24.11.2023. He further placed reliance on catena of decisions passed by the Bench of the erstwhile Chief Information Commissioner of this Commission on the same subject matter.
8. The Commission takes cognisance of the contentions placed forth by the Appellant. However, it is pertinent to refer to the observation of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the Writ Petition (Civil) No. 546/2020 titled Centre for Public Interest Litigation versus Union of India on this issue,wherein after a detailed scrutiny of various details about the PM CARES Fund, the Apex Court vide decision dated 18.08.2020 held as follows:
"...59. From the above details, it is clear that PM CARES Fund has been constituted as a public charitable trust. After outbreak of pandemic COVID-19, need of having a dedicated national fund with objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected, a fund was created by constituting a trust with Prime Minister as an ex- officio Chairman of PM CARES Fund, with other ex- officio and nominated Trustees of the Fund. The PM CARES Fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals/organisations and does not get any Budgetary support. No Government money is credited in the PM CARES Fund. ......................Page 6 of 8
69. The contributions made by individuals and institutions in the PM CARES Fund are to be released for public purpose to fulfil the objective of the trust. The PM CARES Fund is a charitable trust registered under the Registration Act, 1908 at New Delhi on 27.03.2020. The trust does not receive any Budgetary support or any Government money.
8.1 Perusal of the records of the appeals also reveals that the CPIO in these appeals vide reply dated 13.03.2023 had duly informed the Appellant of the factual position stating: relevant information in respect of PM CARES Fund may be seen on the website- pmcares.gov.in.
8.2 It is also noteworthy thatthe issue as to whether the PM CARES Fund falls within the ambit of the RTI Act or not has been dealt with previously by this Commission in various cases, the earliest cases being viz. CIC/PMOIN/C/2020/678341 and CIC/PMOIN/A/2020/683578 dated 02.03.2021, in the following manner:
"The information sought in the above two cases pertains to a body, viz. the PM Cares Fund. A public interest litigation is pending before the Delhi High Court to decide whether the said organization falls within the ambit of the RTI Act, 2005. Hence at this stage, the queries raised relate to an organization which has not been declared as a public authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005. Thus, no infirmity is found with the replies furnished by the Respondent and no interference is warranted in the above two cases, at this stage."
The same subject matter has been subsequently been dealt with by the Bench of the erstwhile Chief Information Commissioner as the following second appeals number:
i) CIC/PMOIN/C/2020/672248 and CIC/PMOIN/A/2020/686431 decided on 14.02.2022;
ii) CIC/PMOIN/A/2020/675244 decided on 04.03.2022,
iii) CIC/PMOIN/A/2020/676225 and CIC/PMOIN/A/2020/683597 heard on 29.03.2022 and iv) CIC/PMOIN/A/2020/140430 heard on 21.04.2022.Page 7 of 8
The ratio of the above mentioned cases is applicable to the facts of these two appeals at hand. Moreover, the issue is pending adjudication before the Division Bench, Delhi High Court, any adjudication of the same issue may amount to pre judging the issues at this stage.
Accordingly, the Second Appeals are disposed of.
Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.
Sd/-
(Suresh Chandra) (सुसुरेशचं ा) ा सूचनाआयु ) Information Commissioner (सू दनांक/Date: 26.10.2023 Authenticated true copy R. Sitarama Murthy (आर. सीताराममूत#) Dy. Registrar (उपपंजीयक) 011-26181927(०११-२६१८१९२७) Addresses of the parties:
THE CPIO Prime Minister's Office, South Block, New Delhi-110011 First Appellate Authority Prime Minister's Office, South Block New Delhi-110011 Shri Kushagra Sinha Page 8 of 8