UPPSC 2019 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 148 of 150

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).

• (a)Article 109 — 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 — 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 — 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.

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.

Reach the answer by function, not by memory of numbers alone. Ask what the question wants — a definition. Then place the four Articles: 109 is procedure, 110 is definition, 111 is assent, 112 is the Budget. Article 109 tempts because it comes first and is the Article students meet earliest, in the familiar fourteen-day rule; but a procedure Article presupposes that the thing has already been defined elsewhere. The states have an exact mirror of this pair: Article 199 defines a Money Bill for a State Legislature and Article 198 gives its procedure, with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly certifying.

• Article 110(1) defines a Money Bill: a Bill qualifies only if it contains ONLY the matters listed in sub-clauses (a) to (g), including taxation, government borrowing and guarantees, the Consolidated and Contingency Funds, appropriation from the Consolidated Fund, charged expenditure and audit of Union or State accounts.
• Article 110(3) makes the decision of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha final on whether a Bill is a Money Bill; the Speaker endorses a certificate under Article 110(4).
• A Money Bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha and only on the recommendation of the President; the Rajya Sabha may recommend changes but cannot reject or amend the Bill, and must return it within fourteen days.
• There is no joint sitting for a Money Bill — Article 108 excludes it — and under Article 111 the President cannot return a Money Bill for reconsideration.
• The state equivalents are Article 199 (definition) and Article 198 (procedure), with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly certifying a State Money Bill.

• Choosing Article 109 because it is the Article students first meet; 109 is the procedure, 110 is the definition.
• Assuming every financial Bill is a Money Bill — a Bill that contains even one matter outside the Article 110 list is a financial Bill under Article 117 instead.
• Thinking a deadlock over a Money Bill can be resolved by a joint sitting; Article 108 excludes Money Bills, because the Rajya Sabha cannot create a deadlock in the first place.

UPPSC asks the direct Article-number identification, as here and in its 2021 question on which Bill cannot be introduced first in the Rajya Sabha; UPSC prefers statement sets that test whether you know what the Article 110 list actually contains and what the Rajya Sabha can and cannot do with a Money Bill.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under the Constitution of India, whose decision is final on the question whether a Bill is a Money Bill or not?

  • (a)The President of India
  • (b)The Speaker of the Lok Sabha
  • (c)The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha
  • (d)The Union Finance Minister

  Answer(b) The Speaker of the Lok Sabha — Article 110(3) makes the Speaker's decision final, and under Article 110(4) the Speaker endorses a certificate on the Bill when it is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha and when it is presented to the President for assent.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Annual Financial Statement, which the Government of India must lay before both Houses of Parliament for every financial year, is provided for in

  • (a)Article 110
  • (b)Article 111
  • (c)Article 112
  • (d)Article 114

  Answer(c) Article 112 — the Annual Financial Statement is the constitutional name for what is popularly called the Union Budget. Article 110 defines a Money Bill, Article 111 deals with assent to Bills and Article 114 with the Appropriation Bill.