Which one of the following is NOT a correct feature of a Money Bill?

Correct — D, It can be referred to a joint committee of the two Houses. The whole design of the Money Bill procedure keeps the Rajya Sabha out of any decision-making role, so no mechanism for joint deliberation applies to it. The Council of States must return the bill within fourteen days with or without recommendations, the Lok Sabha may accept or reject those recommendations as it pleases, and the bill is deemed passed by both Houses either way. Article 108, which provides for a joint sitting to resolve a deadlock, expressly does not apply to a Money Bill, because on a Money Bill a deadlock cannot arise. The other three statements are accurate.

• (a)It can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha — Correct as stated, under Article 109(1), and it can be introduced only on the recommendation of the President.
• (b)A Deputy Speaker can also certify a Money Bill in case of office of Speaker falling vacant — Correct as stated. Article 110(4) requires the Speaker's endorsement, and Article 95 provides that when the office of Speaker is vacant the Deputy Speaker performs its duties.
• (c)A Speaker's authority is final as to whether a bill is Money Bill or not — Correct as stated. Article 110(3) makes the Speaker's decision on the question final.

Article 110 defines a Money Bill exhaustively. It must deal only with one or more of a listed set of matters — taxation, government borrowing, the custody or appropriation of the Consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund, the declaring of an expenditure as charged on the Consolidated Fund, or the receipt and audit of money for those funds — together with matters incidental to them. The word only is what does the work: a bill that also does something outside the list is not a Money Bill, however much revenue it involves.

Three related categories are easy to confuse and worth separating once. A Money Bill is an Article 110 bill and follows the restricted procedure. A financial bill of the first kind contains Article 110 matters as well as other matters, so it needs the President's recommendation and originates in the Lok Sabha, but the Rajya Sabha has its full ordinary powers over it. A financial bill of the second kind involves expenditure from the Consolidated Fund without touching the Article 110 list, and it is an ordinary bill for procedural purposes. The Speaker's certificate under Article 110(3) is the gate between the first and the second, which is why the certification has been litigated — the Supreme Court sent the question of whether that certificate can be reviewed to a larger bench in 2019, and it remained pending after this paper was set.

• A Money Bill may be introduced only in the Lok Sabha and only on the recommendation of the President.
• The Speaker's decision on whether a bill is a Money Bill is final under Article 110(3), and the bill carries the Speaker's endorsement under Article 110(4).
• The Rajya Sabha must return a Money Bill within fourteen days and may make recommendations only; it can neither reject nor amend it.
• Article 108 excludes Money Bills from the joint sitting procedure, so no joint deliberation of the two Houses arises.
• The President may assent to or withhold assent from a Money Bill but cannot return it for reconsideration.

• Assuming that anything to do with money is a Money Bill; the Article 110 list is exhaustive.
• Reading the fourteen-day return as a power to delay; the bill is deemed passed once the period lapses.
• Confusing the Finance Bill with a Money Bill — the two often coincide, but they are defined differently.

Money Bill items are almost always in the NOT form, and the wrong option usually imports a feature of the ordinary bill procedure, such as a joint sitting or a Rajya Sabha amendment.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Within how many days must the Rajya Sabha return a Money Bill transmitted to it by the Lok Sabha?

  • (a)7 days
  • (b)14 days
  • (c)21 days
  • (d)30 days

  Answer(b) 14 days — if it is not returned, the bill is deemed passed by both Houses in the form the Lok Sabha passed it.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following can the President NOT do with a Money Bill presented for assent?

  • (a)Give assent
  • (b)Withhold assent
  • (c)Return it to the Houses for reconsideration
  • (d)Cause it to be published after assent

  Answer(c) Return it to the Houses for reconsideration — a Money Bill is introduced on the President's own recommendation, so returning it would be pointless.