Found it!

Some weeks ago, these columns wrote about Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s mission to find the oak table that had been first used by Liaquat Ali Khan, the first finance minister (in the interim government prior to Independence). Mukherjee’s officers have located the table in a ground floor corner room in the North Block, among other debris. “My officers told me it’s in a dilapidated stage. I have asked them to see if the table can be repaired and restored,” Pranab Mukherjee told Business Standard. Khan had drafted India’s first Budget on that table and, as finance minister in the Indira Gandhi government, Mukherjee had also done the same and was keen to use the same table. So if Mukherjee is somewhat nostalgic while presenting next year’s Budget, you’ll know why.