The Supreme Court has issued an interim order to the government not to implement its policy for the fiscal year 2021-22 to extract sand, pebbles and stones for export.

“The court has said the government's decision violates Articles 30 and 51 of the constitution,” said senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi, one of the writ petitioners. “The court has also said the decision is also against the principle of ordinance.”

Article 30 relates to the environment while Article 51 relates to the basis for the policies of the state.

With the House of Representatives dissolved, the caretaker government had presented the budget through an ordinance.

The Constitutional Bench comprising Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and Justices Deepak Kumar Karki, Mira Khadka, Hari Krishna Karki and Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha on Friday issued the order not to implement the decision until there is a final decision on the case.

In the fiscal budget he presented, Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel said, “Based on environmental impact assessment, mine-based stones, pebbles and sand can be exported to minimise trade deficit.”

Seven different writ petitions had been registered at the Supreme Court demanding that extracting Chure to decrease the trade deficit with India would degrade the environment.

There had been widespread criticism of the provision of the budget speech saying that it would degrade the environment and there would not be enough of these materials needed for construction if Nepal exported them.

The apex court has also ordered the government to furnish reasons behind the government policy within a week.