Constitutional Court to Rule on Free Nutritious Meals Programme Judicial Review Next Month

The Constitutional Court (MK) has announced that the ruling on the judicial review of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme, which draws from the education budget, is targeted to be read out in July 2026. The judicial review concerns Law Number 17 of 2025 on the 2026 State Budget (APBN) for cases numbered 40/PUU-XXIV/2026, 52/PUU-XXIV/2026, and 55/PUU-XXIV/2026, heard in the Plenary Room of MK Building I, Jakarta. MK Chief Justice Suhartoyo explained that the constitutional justices will complete the examination of the case by the end of this month at the latest. “The Court will resolve this petition by the end of this month at the latest. So, next month a decision should already be able to be made. Thus, the issue of what the petitioners’ provisional requests are will not be lost,” he stated, as quoted on Tuesday (16/6). During the judicial review, the government proposed three experts, which was initially rejected by the MK. Suhartoyo requested that the number of government experts be equal to the number of experts from the House of Representatives (DPR), namely three experts for the three a quo cases. Upon hearing that the number of witnesses would exceed three, Suhartoyo reminded the court about the time constraints that would not allow for examining four witnesses. “Don’t, sir, the time,” Suhartoyo cautioned, a point which was then agreed to by the government’s legal counsel. The government’s legal counsel attempted to negotiate for four experts, but this was again rejected by Suhartoyo. Suhartoyo adjourned the session, which will resume on Tuesday, 23 June 2026, at 08.30 WIB. The session is expected to be lengthy, considering the MK usually convenes at 10.30 WIB. The hearing is rescheduled for Tuesday, 23 June 2026, at 08.30 WIB. There are three case numbers in the judicial review of the MBG programme, namely numbers 40, 52, and 55, which examine Law Number 17 of 2025 concerning the 2026 State Budget. Case number 40/PUU-XXIV/2027 was filed by six petitioners, including Umran Usman and Miftahul, who granted power of attorney to A. Fahrur Rozi. Case number 55/PUU-XXIV/2026 was filed by Reza Sudrajat, and case number 52/PUU-XXIV/2026 was filed by Rega Felix, who acted as both principal and legal counsel for the two petitioners. The petitioner for case number 52/PUU-XXIV/2026 is reviewing the material of two laws simultaneously, namely Law Number 20 of 2003 on the National Education System and Law Number 17 of 2025 on the 2026 State Budget.