The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea asking for an urgent hearing on postponing the presentation of the Union Budget. The Budget will be presented on February 1, ahead of the Assembly elections in five states, which start on February 4. Opposition parties had demanded that the Budget be presented after the elections end as the Budget gives the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party an unfair advantage to influence voters. Several parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party, had also approached the Election Commission seeking that the Budget be delayed.
The Centre had moved the Budget Session forward by about a month. The Budget is usually presented in Parliament on February 28, but the central government has been pushing for an earlier Budget for several reasons, including their desire to introduce the Goods and Services Tax as soon as possible. Several GST-related Bills that were to be passed in the Winter Session were pushed to the Budget Session. The Winter Session had ended on December 16.
On Friday, the Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar had said the pleas will be heard in “due course of time”, but not immediately. The plea had also sought to strip the BJP of its symbol, the lotus, for allegedly going against the model code of conduct, Deccan Chronicle reported. The code came into force after the Election Commission announced poll dates, on January 4.
Polls will be held in five states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab. The votes will be counted on March 11.
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