Budget not legally valid: Jakhar
Wednesday, 27/06/2012
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120627/punjab.htm#1
Leader of Opposition Sunil Jakhar today challenged the legal validity of the Budget. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia and Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa had a tough time tackling the issue.
Raising the issue during a debate on the Budget, he said the state government had violated the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act by not keeping the fiscal and revenue deficit within the limit fixed for 2011-12. Under the Act, the fiscal deficit should have been 3.5 per cent whereas it was actually 3.88 per cent and the revenue deficit, which should have been 1.8 per cent, was 2.25 per cent. He repeatedly quoted from the Budget documents presented in the House by Dhindsa.
At this the Chief Secretary and other officials sitting in the gallery rushed outside to prepare the government defence. The Chief Minister said the Budget had been duly approved by the Cabinet. Defending the figures, Dhindsa said these were only revised figures and the final figures would be available later.
But an adamant Jakhar maintained that the state government had breached the law. He said that law should have been suitably amended in case the fiscal and revenue deficit had overshot the prescribed limit. Dhindsa pointed out that even the fiscal deficit in the Union Budget was not within the legal limit. Jakhar insisted that Dhindsa had only presented a statement of accounts. “How can it be called a Budget when the government plans to levy taxes later without mentioning these in the Budget papers.
Among other Congress leaders who spoke were Jagmohan Singh Kang, Charanjit Singh Channi, Parminder Singh Pinki, Karan Brar, Ashwani Sekhri, Hardial Singh Kamboj, Charanjit Kaur Bajwa and Balbir Singh Sidhu.
