SC dismisses petition against PM CARES Fund, calls it 'misconceived'

The Supreme Court also directed that Indians stranded in other parts of the world should "stay where they are" as currently it is not possible to fly them back home

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea seeking to quash the decision of setting up of PM CARES Fund, where people can contribute money to provide relief to those affected by coronavirus in the country. The apex court termed the plea, filed by advocate ML Sharma, "misconceived" and dismissed it.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde did not agree to submissions made by Sharma that this fund has been created without following schemes under Articles 266 and 267 (which deals with contingency and Consolidate Funds) of the Constitution.

The Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairman of the fund and has three ministers as ex-officio trustees - Defence, Home, and Finance. The plea had also sought a court-monitored Special Investigation Team to probe into the setting of this Fund, which was set up on March 28.

In another matter, the Supreme Court also refused to entertain a plea seeking direction to the Centre, state governments and Union Territories to nationalize all healthcare facilities and connected entities till the coronavirus outbreak is contained.

A bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan and S Ravindra Bhat, while hearing the matter through video conferencing, said the court cannot pass a direction sought in the plea. It said the first prayer in the petition is misconceived and the petition is dismissed. On the second prayer, which sought a direction to provide free coronavirus test and treatment for coronavirus, the bench said it had already examined another petition having common issues.

The court then tagged this petition with another pending matter.

The bench told the petitioner it cannot nationalise hospitals, as the government has already taken over some hospitals. The plea claimed India does not have sufficient public health care infrastructure to fight back coronavirus pandemic.

Stay where you are: SC urges Indians stranded abroad

The Supreme Court on Monday directed that Indians stranded in other parts of the world should "stay where they are" as currently, it is not possible to fly them back home.

"Ask them to stay where they are, people in other countries cannot be brought back right now," said a bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde.

The observations came while the court was hearing a batch of petitions pertaining to the evacuation of Indian citizens stranded abroad amid the outbreak of the coronavirus. Seven petitions were heard one by one, each seeking directions from the court on their immediate evacuation from UK, US, Iran, and Gulf countries.

While the hearing on a petition related to the evacuation of people from the United States was being heard, the Solicitor General of India told the court people across the globe are getting visa extensions amid the worldwide spread of the pandemic.

However, the court reiterated the submissions of SG Tushar Mehta stating that information specific to the United States has not been mentioned in the affidavit filed by the Centre and directed him to submit an affidavit specific to the US within one week.

The court has now posted the batch of petitions to be heard after four weeks. However, the Centre has been directed to file its reply in the petitions relating to the evacuation of students from the United States and Gulf nations by April 20.