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The Supreme Court, in a majority view (4:1), dismissed a series of petitions seeking a review of its 2018 judgment upholding the Lok Sabha Speaker’s certification of Aadhaar law as a Money Bill and its subsequent passage in Parliament.

Try this PYQ:

Consider the following statements:

1. Aadhaar card can be used as a proof of citizenship or domicile.
2. Once issued, Aadhaar number cannot be deactivated or omitted by the Issuing Authority.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Backgrounder

• The review petitions had highlighted how the Aadhaar Act was passed as a Money Bill by superseding the Rajya Sabha. It was called a “fraud on the Constitution”.
• The review petition had argued that the Aadhaar Act clearly did not fall within the ambit of Article 110 (1) of the Constitution, which restricted Money Bills to certain specific fields only.

What is a Review Petition?

• Article 137 of the Constitution provides that subject to provisions of any law and rule made under Article 145 the Supreme Court of India has the power to review any judgment pronounced (or order made) by it.
• Thus the binding decision of the Supreme Court/High Court can be reviewed in the Review Petition.

Aadhaar Case: Two questions for review

• Two questions had come up for review regarding the five-judge Aadhaar Bench’s judgment in 2018.
• One, whether the Speaker’s decision to declare a proposed law as Money Bill was “final” and cannot be challenged in court.
• The second, whether the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 was correctly certified as a ‘Money Bill’ under Article 110(1) of the Constitution.

What is the majority Judgment?

• On the first question, the majority judgment in 2018 said the Speaker’s decision could be challenged in court only under “certain circumstances”.
• On the second, it concluded that the Aadhaar Act was rightly called a Money Bill.

Back2Basics: Money Bill

• A Bill is said to be a Money Bill if it only contains provisions related to taxation, borrowing of money by the government, expenditure from or receipt to the Consolidated Fund of India.
• Bills that only contain provisions that are incidental to these matters would also be regarded as Money Bills.
• A Money Bill may only be introduced in Lok Sabha, on the recommendation of the President as per Article 110 of the Constitution.
• Then, it is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha for its recommendations. Following this, it may be sent to the Rajya Sabha for its recommendations, which Lok Sabha may reject if it chooses to.
• If such recommendations are not given within 14 days, it will be deemed to be passed by Parliament.

How is a Money Bill different from a financial bill?

• While all Money Bills are Financial Bills, all Financial Bills are not Money Bills.
• For example, the Finance Bill which only contains provisions related to tax proposals would be a Money Bill.
• However, a Bill that contains some provisions related to taxation or expenditure, but also covers other matters would be considered as a Financial Bill.

Question Hour, which had been suspended by the government during the monsoon session, will resume when Parliament meets for the budget session.

Q.Discuss the various instruments of Parliamentary Control in India.

Must read edition: [Burning Issue] Quashing of the Question Hour

What is Question Hour?

• Question Hour is the liveliest hour in Parliament. It is during this one hour that MPs ask questions of ministers and hold them accountable for the functioning of their ministries.
• Prior to Independence, the first question asked of government was in 1893. It was on the burden cast on village shopkeepers who had to provide supplies to touring government officers.
• The questions that MPs ask are designed to elicit information and trigger suitable action by ministries.
• Over the last 70 years, MPs have successfully used this parliamentary device to shine a light on government functioning.
• Their questions have exposed financial irregularities and brought data and information regarding government functioning to the public domain.
• With the broadcasting since 1991, Question Hour has become one of the most visible aspects of parliamentary functioning.

Its evolution

• The right to question the executive has been exercised by members of the House from the colonial period.
• The first Legislative Council in British India under the Charter Act, 1853, showed some degree of independence by giving members the power to ask questions to the executive.
• Later, the Indian Council Act of 1861 allowed members to elicit information by means of questions.
• However, it was the Indian Council Act, 1892, which formulated the rules for asking questions including short notice questions.
• The next stage of the development of procedures related to questions came up with the framing of rules under the Indian Council Act, 1909, which incorporated provisions for asking supplementary questions by members.
• The Montague-Chelmsford reforms brought forth a significant change in 1919 by incorporating a rule that the first hour of every meeting was earmarked for questions. Parliament has continued this tradition.
• In 1921, there was another change. The question, on which a member desired to have an oral answer, was distinguished by him with an asterisk, a star. This marked the beginning of starred questions.

Its significance

• Question Hour is not only an opportunity for the members to raise questions, but it is a parliamentary device primarily meant for exercising legislative control over executive actions.
• The government’s actions erode the constitutional mandate of parliamentary oversight over executive actions as envisaged under Article 75 (3) of the Indian Constitution.