Key Takeaways:
- Supreme Court issued interim order against budget reconstruction
- Provincial government had planned to table a new budget on Wednesday
- Court ordered the June 23 budget to remain in force for now
- Government asked to explain legal basis for proposed changes
The Supreme Court has ordered the Sudurpaschim provincial government to halt preparations to reconstruct the budget for the current fiscal year, creating uncertainty over its plan to introduce a new budget.
A single bench of Justice Mahesh Sharma Paudel issued the interim order on Tuesday in response to a writ petition filed by advocate Maniram Upadhyay.
The court has also directed the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers to submit a clarification and appear for discussions regarding the proposed budget reconstruction.
According to the petitioner's legal team, the court has ordered that the budget presented in the provincial assembly on June 23 remain in force until a final verdict is issued.
Upadhyay argued that the government cannot keep an already presented budget on hold and subsequently introduce another budget for the same fiscal year.
He also said any new budget brought by the government would not be implementable in view of the court's interim order.
The provincial government had been preparing to present a revised budget in the provincial assembly on Wednesday evening.
A meeting of the Council of Ministers had been scheduled to approve the budget prepared by the Ministry of Economic Affairs before its presentation to the assembly.
The government has been under pressure to introduce a budget for fiscal year 2026-27 amid what provincial officials have described as a budget vacuum.
The previous provincial government had presented a budget of Rs 37.70 billion for the current fiscal year.
The court's interim order means the government's proposed budget revision process will remain on hold pending further judicial review.