Legislative Process
Money Bills are
those Bills which contain only provisions dealing with article 110 of the
Constitution. If any question arises whether a Bill is a Money Bill or not, the
decision of the Speaker of Lok Sabha shall be final. Under article 110 (1), a
Money Bill could contain provisions dealing with following matters:
a. The
imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax.
b. The
regulation of the borrowing of money by the Government of India.
c. The
custody of the Consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund of India.
d. The
appropriation or of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of India.
e. The
receipt of money on account of the Consolidated Fund of India or the public
account of India.
f. The
declaring of any expenditure to be expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund
of India
g.
Audit of the accounts of the union or of a state.
h. any
matter incidental to any of the above-mentioned matters.
Types of
Money Bills
1. Finance
Bill – Finance Bill is introduced in Lok Sabha every year immediately after
the presentation of the General Budget to give effect to the financial
proposals of the Government of India for the following financial year.
2. Appropriation
Bill – An Appropriation Bill is introduced in Lok Sabha immediately after
adoption of the relevant demands for grants.
We shall discuss
them in detail.
Legislative
Process relating to Financial Bills
Money Bills are
substantially different from the ‘Financial Bills’. A money bill is only
circumscribed to article 110 (1) whereas a Financial Bill could deal with other
provisions as well.
As we discussed
in the last post that there are two kinds of Financial Bills, Category A and
Category B. Category A deals only with article 110 (1) and can be introduced
only in the Lok Sabha on the recommendation of the President. But, other
restrictions relating to Money Bills do not apply to this category. Category B contains
provisions that involve expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India. These
can be introduced in either house of the Parliament. However, recommendation of
the President is mandatory for consideration of these Bills in both the houses.
Powers of
Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha has
limited powers with respect to Money bills. A Money bill can only originate in
Lok Sabha and once it has been passed by the Lok Sabha and sent to Rajya Sabha,
it has to be returned to Lok Sabha with in a period of fourteen days with or
without recommendations. The recommendations are not binding on the Lok Sabha.
In any case, once the recommendations are accepted or rejected after the bill
is returned to the Lok Sabha, the bill is deemed to have been passed by both
the Houses. If the bill is not returned to Lok Sabha within fourteen days, it
is again deemed to have been passed by both the Houses.
Legislative
Process relating to Appropriation Bill
After the
demands for grants have been passed by the House, a Bill to provide for the
appropriation out of the Consolidated Fund of India of all moneys required to
meet the grants and the expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India
is introduced, considered and passed.
The introduction
of such Bill cannot be opposed. The scope of discussion is limited to matters
of public importance or administrative policy implied in the grants covered by
the Bill and which have not already been raised during the discussion on
demands for grants.
No amendment can
be proposed to an Appropriation Bill which will have the effect of varying the
amount or altering the destination of any grant so made or of varying the
amount of any expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India, and the
decision of the Speaker as to whether such an amendment is admissible is final.
An amendment to an Appropriation Bill for omission of a demand voted by the
House is out of order.
In other
respects, the procedure in respect of an Appropriation Bill is the same as in
respect of other Money Bills.
Legislative
Process relating to Finance Bill
“Finance Bill”
means a Bill ordinarily introduced every year to give effect to the financial
proposals of the Government of India for the next following financial year and
includes a Bill to give effect to supplementary financial proposals for any
period.
The Finance Bill
is introduced immediately after the presentation of the Budget. The
introduction of the Bill cannot be opposed. The Appropriation Bills and Finance
Bills may be introduced without prior circulation of copies to members.
The Finance Bill
usually contains a declaration under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act,
1931, by which the declared provisions of the Bill relating to imposition or
increase in duties of customs or excise come into force immediately on the
expiry of the day on which the Bill is introduced. In view of such provisions
and the provision of Act of 1931, the Finance Bill has to be passed by
Parliament and assented to by the President before the expiry of the
seventy-fifth day after the day on which it was introduced.
As the Finance
Bill contains taxation proposals, it is considered and passed by the Lok Sabha
only after the Demands for Grants have been voted and the total expenditure is
known. The scope of discussion on the Finance Bill is vast and members can
discuss any action of the Government of India. The whole administration comes
under review.
The procedure in
respect of Finance Bill is the same as in the case of other Money Bills.
Constitution
Amendment Bill v. Money Bill
A Constitution
Amendment Bill is not treated as a Money Bill even if all its provisions attract
article 110(1) for the reason that such amendments are governed by article 368
which over-rides the provisions regarding Money Bills.
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