PESHAWAR   -  The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has summoned the provincial government to ad­dress a petition by May 2, contesting the sanctioning of the April budget for vital ex­penses without the approval of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

Justices Ejaz Anwar and Shahid Khan presided over the case, brought for­ward by opposition leader Ibadullah Khan of the Khy­ber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, represented by lawyer Amir-ur-Rahman Yousafzai.

The petition urges the court to deem the government’s ac­tions illegal and unconstitu­tional. The respondents in the case include the provincial government, the speaker of the provincial assembly, and the secretary finance.

The petitioner highlights that the caretaker govern­ment had presented a four-month budget under Article 126 of the Constitution, while the current provincial gov­ernment submitted a budget for March under Article 125.

The petitioner recalls a pre­vious PHC order for the KP Assembly speaker to swear in reserved seat lawmakers, which the government cir­cumvented by not conven­ing a budget session, opting instead to present a budget under Article 126 — a move deemed unconstitutional.

The petitioner argues that rather than convening the budget session, the incum­bent government opted for a one-month budget under Ar­ticle 126, akin to the caretak­er government’s approach.

The petitioner points out that the Constitution out­lines separate procedures for budget presentation by care­taker and elected govern­ments.

Seeking the court’s inter­vention, the petitioner urges the government to convene the KP Assembly session to authorise essential expendi­ture until the regular budget presentation.

Following deliberations, the bench has directed the Khy­ber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general to respond on behalf of the provincial government by May 2.