Why do money Bills have a special procedure for approval?
As per Article 109, a money Bill shall be introduced only in the Lok Sabha.
After it is passed in the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha has only 14 days to provide its recommendations on such a Bill which may or may not be accepted by the Lok Sabha.
Money Bills deal ‘only’ with financial matters that are crucial for the administration of the country.
Hence, the Constitution provides for this special procedure that effectively requires only the approval of Lok Sabha where the ruling government enjoys a majority
Issues
Certification of a Bill as a ‘money Bill’ by the Speaker came under judicial review during the scrutiny of the Aadhaar Act passed in 2016
While this was a debatable classification, the Supreme Court upheld this with a majority of 4:1.
The current CJI was the lone dissenting judge who held that the Aadhaar Act did not fulfil the definition of a ‘money Bill’
At present, CJI accepted senior lawyers petition to hear the challenges against the government's passage of several legislations as money bills ahead of the upcoming budget.
Way forward
A seven-judge Bench should be constituted for an authoritative judgment on the definition of money Bills.
The Speakers should also uphold the spirit of the definition while certifying a ‘money Bill.’
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