CDS (II) 2022 General Knowledge · Question 80 of 120

Correct — D, The Council of States has no power to discuss the Money Bill. That is the false statement, and a not-correct stem wants the false one. Article 109 requires a Money Bill passed by the Lok Sabha to be transmitted to the Rajya Sabha, which must return it within fourteen days with or without its recommendations — and a House cannot frame recommendations on a Bill it has not considered. So the Rajya Sabha does debate a Money Bill; what it cannot do is reject it or amend it. If the Bill is not returned within fourteen days, it is deemed to have been passed by both Houses in the form the Lok Sabha sent it.

• (a)Money Bill cannot be introduced in the Council of States. — True, so it is not the answer. A Money Bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, and only on the recommendation of the President.
• (b)The Council of States has no power to reject or amend the Money Bill. — True, so it is not the answer. The Rajya Sabha may only recommend, and the Lok Sabha is free to accept or reject every recommendation and pass the Bill either way.
• (c)The Speaker of the Lok Sabha has the sole and final power in deciding whether a Bill is a Money Bill or otherwise. — True as the Constitution states it — where a question arises whether a Bill is a Money Bill, the decision of the Speaker is final, and the certificate is endorsed on the Bill when it goes to the other House. That finality has been argued over in court: the certification of the Aadhaar Bill as a Money Bill was challenged and upheld by a Supreme Court bench by four votes to one.

A Money Bill is defined in Article 110 by an exhaustive list — imposition or alteration of a tax, borrowing by the Government of India, custody of the Consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund, appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund, and a few related matters. A Bill counts only if it contains nothing beyond that list. Article 110(2) says a Bill is not a Money Bill merely because it provides for fines, or for a fee for a service, or for a tax imposed by a local authority for local purposes. Because the Rajya Sabha's role is cut down to a recommendation, whether a Bill is certified as a Money Bill decides how much say the upper House gets.

The item is built on one substitution — swap 'amend' for 'discuss' and a true sentence becomes a false one. Hold on to the fourteen-day rule and the mistake is hard to make, because returning a Bill with recommendations inside fourteen days is a description of a House that has read and debated it. Two related powers are worth carrying together: the Rajya Sabha may discuss the Annual Financial Statement, the annual budget, but it cannot vote on the Demands for Grants; and no joint sitting is ever called on a Money Bill, because a deadlock is impossible by design.

• A Money Bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, and only on the President's recommendation.
• The Rajya Sabha must return a Money Bill within fourteen days, with or without recommendations.
• If it is not returned in fourteen days, the Bill is deemed passed by both Houses as the Lok Sabha passed it.
• The Speaker of the Lok Sabha certifies whether a Bill is a Money Bill, and that decision is final.
• The Rajya Sabha may discuss the annual budget but cannot vote on the Demands for Grants; no joint sitting is held on a Money Bill.

• Reading no power to amend as no power to discuss — the swap this question is built on.
• Assuming the President can return a Money Bill for reconsideration. That power does not exist here.
• Expecting a joint sitting when the Houses disagree over a Money Bill.

Almost always as a not-correct statements item, occasionally as a what-follows question about the Rajya Sabha amending a Money Bill.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Within how many days must the Council of States return a Money Bill transmitted to it by the House of the People?

  • (a)Seven days
  • (b)Fourteen days
  • (c)Twenty-one days
  • (d)Thirty days

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

• practice — not a real PYQ

  A Bill is NOT deemed to be a Money Bill merely because it provides for which one of the following?

  • (a)Imposition of a tax by the Union
  • (b)Appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of India
  • (c)Imposition of a tax by a local authority for local purposes
  • (d)Regulation of borrowing by the Government of India

  Answer(c) Imposition of a tax by a local authority for local purposes — expressly excluded by Article 110(2).