Government recommends proroguing of Budget session of Parliament

NEW DELHI: In a rare development, the Budget session of Parliament was tonight prorogued bang in the middle of it to enable the government to issue an Ordinance for authorising expenditure beyond April one in the centrally- ruled Uttarakhand in view of the political crisis in the state.

The decision to recommend such a course was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh following questions over the status of the Appropriation Bill which was declared as passed by the Speaker in the Uttarakhand Assembly under controversial circumstances.

The Budget session, which began on February 23, has been recess since March 16 and was to meet again on April 25.

With only two days left, government would not have been in a position to issue an Ordinance for drawing funds from the Consolidated Fund to enable the state to meet its expenditure needs beyond April one since it is under President's Rule.