The Money Bill is defined in which Article of the Constitution of India ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — B, Article 110. Article 110(1) is the defining provision: a Bill is deemed to be a Money Bill if it contains ONLY provisions dealing with all or any of the matters it lists — the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax; the regulation of the borrowing of money or the giving of any guarantee by the Government of India; the custody of the Consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund of India and payments into or withdrawals from them; the appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of India; the declaring of any expenditure to be expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund, or increasing the amount of such expenditure; the receipt of money on account of the Consolidated Fund or the public account of India, or the custody or issue of such money, or the audit of the accounts of the Union or of a State; and any matter incidental to those. The word 'only' is what makes the definition strict. Article 110(3) then makes the Speaker of the Lok Sabha the final authority on whether a Bill is a Money Bill, and Article 110(4) requires the Speaker to endorse a certificate to that effect when the Bill goes to the Rajya Sabha and to the President. Definition sits in 110 — hence (b).

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Article 109 lays down the special PROCEDURE for a Money Bill, not its definition. Under it a Money Bill cannot be introduced in the Rajya Sabha; after the Lok Sabha passes it, the Bill goes to the Rajya Sabha only for recommendations, which must be returned within fourteen days; the Lok Sabha may accept or reject them, and if the Bill is not returned in time it is deemed passed by both Houses. This is the classic trap in the question — 109 is the how, 110 is the what.  (c) Article 111 deals with the President's assent to Bills. The President may assent, withhold assent, or return a Bill for reconsideration — but a Money Bill is expressly excluded from that power of return, precisely because it has already been introduced on the President's own recommendation. Article 111 therefore concerns what happens after Parliament is done, not what a Money Bill is.  (d) Article 112 provides for the Annual Financial Statement — the document popularly called the Union Budget — which must be laid before both Houses for every financial year, showing estimated receipts and expenditure and distinguishing expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund from other expenditure. It is a budget provision, not the definition of a Money Bill.

Concept: Articles 109 to 117 form a tight financial-legislation block, and the exam mines the boundaries between them. Article 109 gives the special procedure for Money Bills, Article 110 defines them, Article 111 covers assent, Article 112 the Annual Financial Statement, Article 113 the procedure for estimates and Demands for Grants, Article 114 the Appropriation Bill, Article 115 supplementary and excess grants, and Article 117 the special provisions for financial Bills generally. Every Money Bill is a financial Bill, but not every financial Bill is a Money Bill: a Bill that contains any matter outside the Article 110 list falls under Article 117 instead and loses the Money Bill's procedural privileges.

State PCS 2019 Q148 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2019 Q148 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer