Supreme Court declines hearing on PIL seeking postponement of Union Budget

The apex court declined to hear a PIL that urgently sought postponing of the annual budget in Parliament in view of the schedule of Assembly elections in 5 states.While the Budget is scheduled to be presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 1, the elections in 5 states begin 3 days later. Opposition parties led by the Congress approached the EC seeking postponing of the budget arguing that the government led by the BJP may announce populist measures in the budget thereby giving it an advantage in the polls.