The Supreme Court on Friday sought material to support a petition filed against the Centre, seeking to postpone the Budget Session in Parliament to after the Assembly elections in the five poll-bound states. “What is the big deal if the Budget is presented on February 1 instead of March 1?” the top court asked petitioner, lawyer ML Sharma, according to The Indian Express. “You tell us what provisions were violated. Tentatively speaking, we do not find any material in support of the plea.”

The bench comprising Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud directed Sharma to “prepare hard” and submit evidence to support his public interest litigation. They scheduled the next hearing for January 20.

In his plea, the lawyer urged the court to direct the government to present the Budget when the new financial year begins on April 1, and not on February 1 as planned. He also called for the Centre to be restrained from declaring “any relief, programme” in the Budget till after the state polls as they would violate the model code of conduct, PTI reported.

On January 6, the Supreme Court had rejected an appeal for an urgent hearing of a plea seeking postponement of the Budget Session. Opposition parties had made the same appeal to the Election Commission, saying presenting the Budget before the elections would give the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party an unfair advantage.

The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, on January 3, had decided to hold the first half of the Budget Session from January 31 to February 9. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the Annual Budget on February 1. A day after this news, the Election Commission had announced the dates of the Assembly elections in five states – Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand. They will be held from February 4 to March 8, and the votes will be counted on March 11.