Raipur, February 21 The budget session of the Chhattisgarh legislative assembly will begin on February 23 and conclude on March 20, Speaker Raman Singh said here on Saturday.
Finance Minister O P Chaudhary will present the budget for 2026-27 on February 24, he said.
The session will begin with Governor Ramen Deka's address at 11.05 am on Monday. The debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor will be held on February 25.
The session will have 15 sittings.
The speaker's office has received notices of 1,437 starred and 1,376 un-starred questions, while 61 notices were received for call-attention motions, Singh said.
Two key government bills – The Chhattisgarh Freedom of Religion Bill, 2026, and The Chhattisgarh Public Security (Measures) Enforcement Bill, 2026 – will be tabled during the session.
Conditional permission was granted to Congress MLA and former minister Kawasi Lakhma, who recently obtained bail from the Supreme Court in a money laundering case, to participate in the session after the assembly secretariat reviewed the legal aspects, the speaker said.
Lakhma will have to provide his exact travel schedule and maintain an active mobile number for tracking purposes, he said.
The Congress MLA is strictly prohibited from visiting his home constituency or other areas of the state.
"Lakhma is permitted to speak on budget matters and legislative business. He is barred from mentioning in the House the charges against him or ongoing court proceedings," Singh said, adding that a violation of these terms will result in immediate cancellation of his permission to attend the session.
On February 3, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Lakhma in two separate cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Chhattisgarh's Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offences Wing (ACB/EOW) in connection with an alleged liquor scam that occurred during the previous Congress government.
Lakhma was first arrested by the ED on January 15, 2025.