The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition demanding that the Union Budget be postponed and presented after the Assembly elections in five states. There is no illustration to support that presenting the Union Budget before the polls will influence voters, the court ruled, according to PTI. On the same day, the government called an all-party meeting on January 30 to discuss the Budget Session.

A bench comprising Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud had sought material to support a petition filed by lawyer ML Sharma, who was directed to “prepare hard” and submit evidence to back his public interest litigation.

In his plea, the lawyer urged the court to direct the Centre to present the Budget when the new financial year begins on April 1, not on February 1 as planned. He also called for the government 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 to have the Budget Session postponed. 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.