Congress to move court if govt issues ordinance on U'khand

New Delhi, March 31: Congress will move court if the Centre issues ordinance to authorise expenditure beyond April 1 in Uttarakhand which is under Presideent's rule, party leader Kapil Sibal said on Thursday, March 31.

Promulgation of any such ordinance would be "unprecedented and unconstitutional", Sibal, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, told reporters here.

He attacked the Centre accusing it of being "not concerned about parliamentary democracy and the Constitution".

Taking a dig at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, also a senior advocate, Sibal remarked, "I must congratulate Jaitley.

It is a first to his credit. The central government will decide whether Budget in an Assembly is passed or not." Claiming that the Budget has already been approved by the Uttarakhand Assembly, he said that the Speaker has declared so and there has been no petition in any court against it nor has anyone approached any court.

Targeting BJP and the Centre, he alleged that they wanted to show anyhow that the Budget has not been passed on the floor of the Uttarakhand Assembly. He accused the Centre of playing this "political game" as part of its attempts to destabilise the state government.

"They swear by the Constitution, but tearing it to shreds." He said that the prorogation of Budget session of Parliament for enabling the government to issue such an ordinance was also part of this game. "They are afraid that if they bring the bill in Parliament on the matter, they will be defeated," he said. Congress has accused the Centre of having "murdered democracy" by imposing President's rule in Uttarakhand.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has said, "A situation is created in a state where there is constitutional breakdown, the state could not get its Appropriation Bill passed. "If the Appropriation Bill is not passed, the employees of the state will not get their salary from April 1 and the development of the state will come to a standstill," he has said.

PTI