Money Bills: what counts, who certifies, and what the Rajya Sabha can do

Article 110 defines a Money Bill as a bill containing only provisions dealing with matters such as the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of a tax; the regulation of borrowing by the Government of India; the custody and payment of money into or out of the Consolidated Fund of India; and the appropriation of money from that Fund. A bill is not a Money Bill merely because it provides for fines, fees for licences or services, or local taxes. The definition is deliberately narrow, because Money Bills follow a special procedure that limits the Rajya Sabha's role.

That special procedure is set out in Article 109. A Money Bill may be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, and only on the recommendation of the President. After it is passed by the Lok Sabha, it is sent to the Rajya Sabha, which may return it with recommendations within fourteen days. The Lok Sabha may accept or reject any or all of those recommendations. If the Rajya Sabha does not return the bill within fourteen days, it is deemed to have been passed by both Houses in the form passed by the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha therefore cannot amend or reject a Money Bill; it can only recommend.

Whether a bill is a Money Bill is decided by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and that decision is stated to be final. This certification power has been controversial, because classification determines how much scrutiny a bill receives in the second House. In recent litigation, including challenges to the classification of the Aadhaar law and amendments to finance legislation, the Supreme Court has examined whether a bill certified as a Money Bill in fact falls within Article 110. The Court has treated certification as reviewable in limited circumstances, while recognising the Speaker's role.

The Money Bill procedure reflects a constitutional choice: the House directly elected by the people has primacy over taxation and public spending. That choice only works fairly if classification is strict. If ordinary legislation is routed as a Money Bill, the Rajya Sabha's power of revision is bypassed and federal scrutiny is weakened. The question for a reader is therefore not only what Article 110 says, but whether each provision of a certified bill genuinely belongs inside it.