KATHMANDU: A hearing has been scheduled for today on a writ petition related to contempt of court regarding the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2082/83 (2025/26).

The hearing is set for the writ filed on Sunday by senior advocate Dinesh Tripathi, naming the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Forests and Environment, and Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies as defendants.

Tripathi has claimed that Clause 87 of the upcoming budget disrespects a previous Supreme Court ruling and has demanded the strictest legal action against those involved in the alleged contempt.

The writ argues that Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel’s budget proposal—which includes provisions allowing the private sector to participate in the commercial production and marketing of natural and mineral-based resources—violates the Supreme Court’s earlier order.

Previously, in the fiscal year 2078/79 (2021/22), then-Finance Minister Paudel had included a provision allowing the export of mined materials like stones, gravel, and sand.

The Supreme Court later issued a mandamus order instructing the government not to implement Clause 199 of that budget concerning such exports.