The Madras High Court on Thursday recorded a submission made by the State government on June 23 that it was not averse to disclosing details of the funds received towards the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund (CMPRF) and granted it eight weeks to update the fund’s web portal. The government cited the COVID-19 lockdown for not updating the details. Justices M.M. Sundresh and R. Hemalatha recorded the submissions made by CMPRF treasurer P.A. Parimala Chelvi, in a counter affidavit filed last month, that steps were being taken to upload all details on the web portal through the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
TAMIL NADUHC grants eight weeks to State to update details of CMPRF
Legal CorrespondentCHENNAI 16 JULY 2020 23:48 ISTUPDATED: 16 JULY 2020 23:48 IST
Govt. cites lockdown as reason for not updating records
The Madras High Court on Thursday recorded a submission made by the State government on June 23 that it was not averse to disclosing details of the funds received towards the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund (CMPRF) and granted it eight weeks to update the fund’s web portal. The government cited the COVID-19 lockdown for not updating the details.
Justices M.M. Sundresh and R. Hemalatha recorded the submissions made by CMPRF treasurer P.A. Parimala Chelvi, in a counter affidavit filed last month, that steps were being taken to upload all details on the web portal through the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
The submissions were made in response to a public interest litigation petition filed by advocate M. Karpagam through her counsel R. Prabhakaran. The petitioner complained that details regarding the donations received towards CMPRF had not been made public.
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In response, Ms. Chelvi said, “The government does not deny the fact that it is the right of the citizens to access information. Further, the government has nothing to suppress about the CMPRF and the honourable Chief Minister has issued press releases every week.”
Stating that the donations were received through cheques and online payment gateways, she said: “Due to the lockdown, many government offices have been functioning with minimum staff and therefore, it has not been possible to update/integrate the details.”
She added, “Nevertheless, in future, the government will upgrade the website with more information and proactive disclosure to the public in the interest of greater transparency.”
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