CDS (I) 2022 General Knowledge · Question 44 of 120

Correct — C, Imposition of fines by local authority for local purpose. Article 110(1) lists what a Money Bill may contain, and clause (2) then names what will not make a Bill a Money Bill. Both limbs of option (c) appear in clause (2). Its words are that a Bill shall not be deemed to be a Money Bill by reason only that it provides for the imposition of fines or other pecuniary penalties, or for the demand or payment of fees for licences or fees for services rendered, or by reason that it provides for the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax by any local authority or body for local purposes. Fines are excluded, and local taxation is excluded; option (c) manages to combine the two. The other three options are lifted almost word for word from clause (1) — taxation from sub-clause (a), appropriation out of the Consolidated Fund from sub-clause (d), and custody of the Consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund from sub-clause (c).

• (a)Imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax — This is Article 110(1)(a) verbatim — the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax. It is the first and best-known head of a Money Bill. What clause (2) removes is not this head but the same operation performed by a local authority for local purposes.
• (b)Appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of India — This is Article 110(1)(d), the appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of India. The annual Appropriation Bill is the standard example of a Money Bill for exactly this reason.
• (d)Custody of the Consolidated Fund of India or the Contingency Fund of India — This is Article 110(1)(c) — the custody of the Consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund of India, and the payment of money into or withdrawal from any such Fund. Note the pairing: custody of both Funds qualifies, but appropriation is mentioned only for the Consolidated Fund.

A Money Bill is defined by Article 110 and enjoys a special procedure. It may be introduced only in the Lok Sabha and only on the President's recommendation; the Rajya Sabha may make recommendations but cannot amend or reject it and must return it within fourteen days; the Speaker's certificate that a Bill is a Money Bill is final; and the President may assent or withhold assent but cannot return it for reconsideration. Article 199 makes the parallel provision for the States.

Three of the four options are direct quotations from clause (1), so the odd one out has to come from clause (2), which is the exclusion clause. Two signals mark option (c). The first is the word fines, which clause (2) names expressly alongside pecuniary penalties and fees for licences or services. The second is the phrase local authority for local purposes — the Union's Consolidated Fund is what the whole Article revolves around, so a levy raised by a municipality for its own purposes is a long way from it. The underlying principle is that a Money Bill must deal with the finances of the Union and with nothing else; a Bill that merely happens to raise some money, by way of a fee or a fine, is an ordinary Bill.

• Article 110(1)(a) covers the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax.
• Article 110(1)(c) covers custody of the Consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund of India; sub-clause (d) covers appropriation of money out of the Consolidated Fund only.
• Article 110(2) excludes fines and other pecuniary penalties, fees for licences and services, and taxation by a local authority for local purposes.
• Under Article 110(3) the Speaker's decision on whether a Bill is a Money Bill is final.
• A Money Bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha; the Rajya Sabha may recommend but not amend, and must return it within fourteen days.

• Assuming everything about money is a Money Bill — fees and fines are expressly excluded.
• Missing that appropriation is mentioned only for the Consolidated Fund, while custody covers both Funds.
• Confusing a Finance Bill, which may contain non-Money-Bill matter, with a Money Bill proper.

As a which-is-not item on the contents of Article 110, or through the special procedure between the Houses under Article 109.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under the Constitution, the final decision on whether a Bill is a Money Bill rests with

  • (a)the President of India
  • (b)the Speaker of the Lok Sabha
  • (c)the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha
  • (d)the Supreme Court

  Answer(b) The Speaker of the Lok Sabha — Article 110(3) makes the Speaker's decision on the question final.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Within what period must the Rajya Sabha return a Money Bill transmitted to it by the Lok Sabha?

  • (a)Seven days
  • (b)Fourteen days
  • (c)Thirty days
  • (d)Six weeks

  Answer(b) Fourteen days — after which the Bill is deemed passed by both Houses in the form the Lok Sabha passed it.