As Bombay HC asks Centre to respond to plea for deletion of PM’s photo, Kerala HC asks if petitioner ashamed of PM

Mumbai/Kochi, Dec 13 (PTI) Noting that it was an important issue, the Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Centre to file an affidavit by December 23 on a plea seeking deletion of the Prime Minister's name and photograph from the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) trust fund.

The petition, filed by Indian National Congress party member Vikrant Chavan, also sought deletion of images of the national flag and the Emblem of India from the official website of the PM CARES trust fund.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M.S. Karnik said the Union government has not filed an affidavit till now.

"This is also an important issue. File your affidavit," Chief Justice Datta told Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, who was appearing for the union government.

The bench directed the government to file the affidavit by December 23 and posted the matter for further hearing on January 3, 2022.

The plea stated that using the Prime Minister's photograph and the image of the national flag and the Emblem of India was in violation of the provisions of the Constitution and The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act.
The trust was set up on March 27, 2020, as a public charitable trust to extend support and relief for a public health emergency or any other kind of emergency or calamity.

The trust fund claims to consist of voluntary contributions made by individuals/organisations and does not get any budgetary support from the government.

Besides, the contributions made to the trust fund would qualify for a 100 per cent exemption under the Income Tax Act.

"The trust does not discharge any governmental or sovereign functions. It is an admitted position that the trust is not a Government of India fund and the amount collected by it does not go to the Consolidated Fund of India," the plea said.

Stating that it would be improper for the trust to use the name of Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) or his photograph and the image of the national flag and the Emblem of India on its official website, the plea has sought deletion of the same.

Meanwhile, in another matter dealing with the use of the PM's photograph, the Kerala High Court, examining the maintainability of a plea seeking removal of PM Modi's photograph from the COVID-19 vaccination certificate, on Monday asked the petitioner whether he was ashamed of the PM.

Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan said the Prime Minister was elected to power by the people of the country and asked what was wrong with having his photograph on the vaccination certificate.

When the petitioner's counsel told the court that in other countries there was no such practice, the judge orally remarked, "They may not be proud of their PMs, we are proud of our PM."

"Why are you (petitioner) ashamed of the Prime Minister? He came to power through the mandate of the people…. We may have different political views, but he is still our PM," the court further said.

The counsel for the petitioner — Peter Myaliparampil — said that the certificate was a "private space" with personal details on record and therefore, it was inappropriate to intrude into the privacy of an individual.

He contended that adding the PM's photo to the certificate was an intrusion into an individual's private space.
To this, the court said that the more than 100 crore people of the country do not appear to have a problem with having the PM's photo on the vaccine certificate; "why do you?"

The court said it will examine whether the plea has any merits and if not, it will dispose of the matter.

During the more than an hour long hearing, advocate Ajit Joy, appearing for the petitioner, said that whether to be proud of one's PM was a personal choice.

Joy also told the court that it was not a matter of political differences, as the Supreme Court has laid down guidelines for advertisements and campaigns using public money.

He said having the photo on the certificates would also influence minds of voters and this issue was raised during the recent state assembly elections.

The union government opposed the plea, saying it was a publicity interest litigation.

The petitioner, a senior citizen, has contended in his plea that the PM's photo on his vaccination certificate was a violation of fundamental rights.