Woman Seeks Financial Assistance From PM Cares Fund For Husband's Treatment

Petition For Financial Help From PM Cares Fund: The Supreme Court heard a petition filed by a woman who sought financial help of approximately one crore rupees from the PM Cares and State CM Relief Funds for the treatment of her husband.

The woman's husband reportedly needs a lung transplant after he suffered from COVID-19. The woman said that she has exhausted her savings over her husband's COVID-19 treatment.

The Division Bench of Justice LN Rao and Justice Aniruddha Bose issued a notice to Krishna Institute of Medical Science, Telangana, where the woman's husband is currently admitted. As per a report by Live Law, the husband was airlifted from AIIMS Bhopal and was admitted to KIMS due to ECMO machine unavailability.

The woman had asked for financial assistance from the national COVID-19 fund initiated by the Prime Minister of India. The Division Bench had issued a notice on August 6 to see if something can be done from the Union government's end. This was after the Solicitor General of India submitted in court that nothing can be done in the matter.

Justice LN Rao told Solicitor General, "We have already told the petitioner that nothing can be done but we had only served to see if something could be done from your end. We'll direct for serving a copy to you and hear the matter tomorrow."

The woman's counsel argued in court that she is entitled to relief on the basis of equity, justice and good conscience. The plea said that the woman had a legitimate expectation from the Government of India for saving her husband's life.

The plea read, "Not providing necessary financial assistance to save the life of the husband of Petitioner is violative of Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India and the same can be construed as inaction on part of the State in providing adequate health care to the citizens, particularly during the prevailing Covid-19 situation."

The woman also claimed that she had physically visited the Prime Minister's office with her application seeking a grant from PM cares fund. However, she said the staff refused to take her application as it did not come with a recommendation from the Member of Parliament of her constituency.

The plea stated that the PM Cares Fund is a national endeavour to provide relief to persons in distress. The fund should be disbursed on the basis of need as per the Deed of trust.

The next hearing of the case is scheduled for August 13, 2021.