110. Definition of “Money Bills”:
(1) For the purposes of this Chapter, a Bill shall be deemed to be a Money Bill if it contains only provisions dealing with all or any of the following matters, namely: (a) the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax; (b) the regulation of the borrowing of money or the giving of any guarantee by the Government of India, or the amendment of the law with respect to any financial obligations undertaken or to be undertaken by the Government of India; (c) the custody of the Consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund of India, the payment of moneys into or the withdrawal of moneys from any such fund; (d) the appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated fund of India; (e) the declaring of any expenditures to be expenditures charged n the Consolidated Fund of India or the increasing of the amount of any such expenditure; (f0 the receipt of money on account of the Consolidated Fund of India 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; or (g0 any matter incidental to any of the matters specified in sub-clauses (a) to (f).
(2) 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 licenses or fees for the 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.
COMMENTS
There are categories of Money Bill. The first is an Appropriation Bill and the other is a Finance Bill. A Finance Bill is introduced each year as mandated by Section 4 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 that the rates of income tax to be determined each year by a Finance Bill. A Finance Bill is also prescribes the rates of custom duties, excise duties and other levies including the levy of a cess. Except in case of Finance Bill the Constitution does not stipulate any time-limit of the passing of a Bill. The reason for passing of a Finance Bill within the stipulated period of 75 days is because of a provision of the Provisional Collection of Tax Act, 1931. Section 3 of this Act is important and states that where a bill to be introduced in the Parliament on behalf of Government provides for the imposition or increase of a duty of customs or excise, the central Government may cause to be inserted that any provision of the Bill relating of such imposition or increase shall have immediate effect under this Act. Thus by virtue of the declaration, the provision of a finance bill takes effect immediately on the introduction of the Finance Bill is passed or defeated earlier then on the expiry of the seventy-fifth day after the day on which the Bill containing it was introduced it will cease to have effect.
From time to time, a Finance Bill also contained amendment of the Income Tax Act, the Central Excise Act, the Customs Acts administered by the Department of Revenue and Department of Expenditures of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. New taxes were levied by a law as part of the Finance Bill. The most important example is the levy of Service Tax by the Finance Act, 1994 which continues to be amended by the subsequent Finance Acts including the Finance Act, 2016. The other Act which has been amended in the past has been the Post-Office Act, 1898 so far the postal rates are concerned. The recent trend of inclusion of a number of a financial legislations rather incorporating a new legislation or amending an existing legislation as a part of the Finance Bill put certain questions to policy-makers including putting pressure of time on draft person of legislative department in the Ministry of Law and Justice to finish the drafting of the Finance Bill containing rates of tax and other substantive legislative proposals of a new law or substantially amending an existing law be referred to the standing Committee of the Parliament of the Ministry of Finance so far as those legislative proposals are concerned as is the current practice in U.K?
It is instructive to look experienced in U.K very recently in the United Kingdom, the House of lords Economic Affairs Committee has to set up a Finance Bill, 2016, which was published on 9 December, 2015. The FBSC’s inquiries focus on technical issues of tax administration, clarification and simplification rather than on rates or incidence of tax. The practice started in 2003 when the House of Lord’s Select Committee to inquire into the selected aspects of that year’s Finance Bill. The Finance Bill Sub-Committee’s inquiries address technical issues of tax administration, clarification and simplification, rather than rates or incidence of tax.
A Finance Bill is constitutionally valid if it has obtained prior recommendation of President for its introduction and also for its consideration and passing and a certificate from the Speaker that the bill in question is a Money Bill. On this question, the decision of the Speaker is final.
112. Annual financial statement:
(1) The President shall in respect of every financial year cause to be laid before both the Houses for the Parliament a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India for that year, in this Part referred to as the “annual Financial Statement.”
(2) The estimates of expenditures embodied in the annual Financial statement shall show separately:
(a) the sums required to meet expenditures described by this constitution as expenditure charged upon the Consolidated Fund of India; and
<(b) the sums required to meet other expenditures proposed to be made from the consolidated Fund of India, and shall distinguish expenditures on revenue account from other expenditure
(3) The following expenditures shall be expenditures charged on the Consolidated Fund of India:
(a) The emoluments and allowances of the President and other expenditures relating to office;
(b) The salaries and allowances of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Council of States and the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the house of the people;
(c ) debt charges for which the Government of India is liable, including interest, sinking fund charges and redemption charge and other expenditures relating to the raising of loans and service and redemption of debt;
(d ) (i) the salaries allowances and pensions payable to or in respect of Judges of Supreme Court;
(ii) the pensions payable to or in respect of Judges of the Federal Court;
(iii) the pensions payable to or in respect of Judges of any High Court which exercises jurisdiction in relation to any area included in the territory of India or which, at any time before the commencement of this Constitution, exercised jurisdiction in relation to any area included in 1 a Governor’s Province of the Dominion of India;
(e) the salary allowances and pension payable to or in respect of the controller and Auditor-General of India;
(f) any sums required to satisfy any judgment, decree or award of any court or arbitral tribunal;
(g) any other expenditures declared by this Constitution or by the Parliament by law to be so charged.
COMMENTS
The following expenditures shall be expenditures charged on the Consolidated Fund of India as per Article 112(3) which states as under:
(a) the emoluments and allowances of the President and other expenditures relating to his office;
(b) the salaries and allowances of the chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the council of State and the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of the people;
(c) debt charges for which the Government of India is liable , including interest, sinking fund charges and redemption charges, and other expenditure relating to the raising of loans and the services and redemption of debt;
(d) (i) the salaries , allowance and pensions payable to or in respect of judges of the supreme Court;
(ii) The pension payable to or in respect of judges of the federal Court,
(iii) The pensions payable to or in respect of judges of any High Court which exercise jurisdiction in relation to any area included in the territory of India or which, at any time before the commencement of this constitution exercised jurisdiction in relation to any area included in a Governor’s province of the Dominion of India;
(e) the salary , allowances and pension and pension payable to or in respect of the Comptroller and Auditor-General India;
(f) any sums required to satisfy any judgment , decree or award of any court or arbitral tribunal;
(g) any other expenditure declared by this constitution or by the Parliament by law to be so charged.