Supreme Court to hear Punjab government’s plea against governor’s refusal to summon Budget session

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the Punjab government's plea on Tuesday against the governor's "refusal" to convene the budget session scheduled for March 3.

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha said it would accept the Punjab government's plea at 3:50 pm after hearing the five-member constitution on the political crisis in Maharashtra Shiv Sena. Senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for the Punjab government, sought an urgent hearing on the application on Tuesday itself.

He added that the hearing of the constitution bench will not be affected if the matter is taken up for hearing for 10 minutes during the day. The bench told Singhvi that it would be debating before the constitution committee and therefore would take up the request for hearing at 3.50 pm. The rift between the Punjab governor and Chief Minister Mann worsened last week when Purohit indicated that he was in no rush to convene the budget session of the assembly and reminded the CM of his "derogatory" reply to the letter from the Raj Bhavan.

Purohit's letter to CM Mann came two days after the Punjab Cabinet decided to convene the Assembly session on March 3 and asked the Governor to convene the House.