SC dismisses plea to postpone union budget

The SC recently dismissed a petition which sought to postpone the Union Budget from February 1 on the grounds of upcoming Assembly elections in five states.The court rejected the plea, which claimed that the budget would violate the Model Code of Conduct in the election-bound states. Advocate M L Sharma filed the PIL which stated that the Centre be directed to present the Union Budget in the financial year 2017-18 which would commence from April 1, instead of February 1. It also demanded the central government to be restrained from declaring & quot any relief, programme, financial budget until the states' elections are over& quot , as they would violate the Model Code of Conduct. The Centre has already decided to convene the Budget Session of Parliament from January 31 to present the annual budget for fiscal year 2017-18 the very next day.

OUR TAKE

The SC is correct to dismiss the petition of postponing the union budget, for it does not make any sense to postpone something as important as the budget for Assembly elections. The union budget cannot sway the minds of voters and it definitely is not in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.