Punjab, K-P risk 'financial shutdown'.

LAHORE -- The caretaker governments of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) are heading towards a possible financial shutdown, as the period of one-time authorisation of the expenditure for four months will come to an end later this month.

According to Article 126 of the Constitution, a caretaker government can only authorise four-month expenditures from the Provincial Consolidation Fund in any financial year, and that, too, for one time only. The said authorisation was used by the Punjab and K-P caretaker cabinets in third week of June this year.

That authorisation is dubbed as four-month budget that was approved under the Article 126 of the Constitution. It was claimed at that time that on the expiry of the four-month period the respective governments would bring a new four-month budget.

Article 126 titled, 'Power to authorise expenditure when Assembly stands dissolved' reads: 'Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions relating to financial matters, at any time when the Provincial Assembly stands dissolved, the Provincial Government may authorise expenditure from the Provincial Consolidated Fund in respect of the estimated expenditure for a period not exceeding four months in any financial year, pending completion of the procedure prescribed in Article 122 for the voting of grants and the authentication of the schedule of authorised expenditure, in accordance with the provisions of Article 123 in relation to the expenditure.'

Interestingly, The Express Tribune recently reported that the K-P was busy preparing budget for the November-February period. Given that the budget in both these provinces was approved in this financial year, the restriction placed by the Article 126 stands applicable.

When asked, relevant officials in both these provinces recognised the issue, claiming that something must and will be done to work a way around it. A Punjab Finance Department officer admitted that indeed, there was a limitation placed by the Constitution.

The officer said that the issue would be addressed in consultation with the law department. Another officer said that the matter had been taken up with the finance secretary, adding that 'now the matter must have been raised with the law department'.

However, Punjab Law Secretary Ahmad Ali Kamboh told The Express Tribune that finance department had not taken up the matter with them thus far. He said that once the matter lands in his department, a decision would be taken after...