No curb on using PM’s name, photo, HC told

MUMBAI: The Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court there was no restriction on the use of the prime minister’s name and photograph as well as the image of the national flag and emblem for the PM CARES Fund.

In an affidavit submitted before a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik, PMO Under Secretary Pradeep Srivastava said the PM’s photograph, name and national emblem were also used in the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

The affidavit was filed in response to a petition filed by Congress worker Vikrant Chavan seeking deletion of the prime minister’s name and photograph from the PM CARES Fund. It had also sought the deletion of images of the national flag and emblem from the official website of the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund.

The plea claimed the usage of PM’s photograph and the image of the national flag and emblem were in violation of the Constitution as well as The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act. In its affidavit, the PMO said, “I say that PM CARES Fund and PMNRF are both chaired by the Prime Minister. As the name, photograph of Prime Minister and National Emblem are being used for the PMNRF, they are also being used for PM CARES Fund.”

It said the Flag Code of India, 2002, which brings together all laws, conventions, practices and instructions regarding display of the national flag, provides that there shall be no restriction on its display by general public, private organisations, educational institutions and so on, except to the extent provided in Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act.