Munmun Kaur
Published On: January 18, 2022 at 10:50 IST
The Prime Minister’s Office, on January 18, opposed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in Bombay High Court, which sought removal of Prime Minister Modi’s name and image from the PM CARES Fund Trust and its official website.
PIL which was filed by Congress’s Councilor in Thane Municipal Corporation Vikrant Chavan also sought removal of images of the National flag and National emblem from the official website of the trust. Chavan submitted that showing those images is violative of the provisions of the Constitution of India and the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act. He further sought the removal of “Prime Minister” from the name of PM CARES and PMNRF.
On the other hand, Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, Under Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office, submitted to the Court an affidavit stating that both PM CARES Fund and Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) are chaired by the Prime Minister.
The Central Government also pointed out that the Flag Code of India also states that there shall be no restriction on the display of the flag by the members of the general public, private organizations, educational institutions, etc. except to the extent provided in the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950.
The affidavit further read that Chavan had not exhausted all his administrative remedies available in this issue before reaching the High Court. Other remedies are available under the Emblems & Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act and Rules; and the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act and Rules.
After perusing the affidavit, the Bombay High Court granted 15-days time to the petitioner to file a rejoinder and has posted further hearing after three weeks.