New Delhi: An outspoken senior advocate, Dushyant Dave, on Wednesday took on a Supreme Court Bench for "only dictating what solicitor general was dictating," when it gave four weeks’ time on the latter's request for laying down a national plan on use of the PM Cares Fund. Dave, appearing on behalf of the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, was angry that the court had rejected his plea for an immediate order and did not even heed his request to hear the matter in two weeks. The court had bluntly told him: "It is difficult to pass ad interim order at this stage."
The Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul, and MR Shah was hearing the PIL seeking to transfer all contributions made to the PM CARES Fund set up for Covid-19 relief to the statutory National Disaster Response Fund; it further wanted the setting up of a national plan under the National Disaster Management Act (NDMA). Dave took exception to the Solicitor General not submitting the national plan the court had ordered in the last suo motu hearing, while dealing with the migrant workers' issue. Tushar Mehta tried to wriggle out, claiming that the national plan was already "on the website," and sought four weeks to submit it.
The court granted his request. Mehta took strong objection to Dave interjecting when the court was dictating the order with the remarks that the ‘‘court was dictating what the solicitor general was dictating.’’ "This is contemptuous. Some courts have to take cognizance of this behaviour," shouted solicitor general Mehta. Mildly rebuking Dave, pointing out that "you cannot say this," the presiding judge Ashok Bhushan said: "We are issuing notice on your petition. Let the counter be filed." The PIL refers to the opaqueness surrounding the PM CARES Fund, since it is not subject to a mandatory CAG audit and is even outside the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The PIL further claims direct violation of the statutory provisions under the national disaster management Act (NDMA) as the NDRF is not being utilised by the authorities and a separate fund, the PM CARES fund, outside the ambit of the NDMA, has been set up.
The PIL said the ad hoc and emergent orders are understandable in the face of the unprecedented crisis that has hit the country, but there is a need for a robust National Plan after over two months since the Lockdown was imposed. It accordingly sought constitution of an expert body to draft the National Plan, in the light of prominent Indian epidemiologists and experts in public health criticising the handling of this pandemic by the government and giving significant recommendations to deal with the crisis.
