Advocate General comes to govt's rescue

State advocate general Goolam Vahanvati yesterday told the state legislative council that the government's failure to table the green book (annual financial statement) before the house while presenting the budget for the fiscal year did not amount to a violation of the Constitution.

The opposition party (Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party) had on Wednesday stalled the proceedings of both the upper and lower houses of the state legislature while demanding a statement from Vahanvati on what they termed as an incomplete budget being tabled before the house.

While speaker of the lower house Arun Gujarati directed the state government to henceforth ensure that not only the green book but also the white book (annual plan) are presented together, the upper house sought a statement from Vahanvati.

The state advocate general while noting that the state government was only required to submit the green book once in a fiscal year (the state has done so while presenting the interim budget in March) also said that the state legislature was supreme and under the Constitution framed its own decisions.

These decisions, he added, could not be challenged even before a court of law.

Both houses of the state legislature today witnessed uproarious scenes with the opposition combine citing various instances of a law and order failure in the state.