Jaitley argues why Aadhaar is money bill

Finance minister reiterates ‘pith and substance’ argument in Rajya Sabha

GN Bureau | March 16, 2016


#money bill   #supreme court   #law   #parliament   #arun jaitley   #UIDAI   #Aadhaar   #economy  
Finance minister Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha
Finance minister Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha

 The Rajya Sabha witnessed the kind of debate it has not seen at least in recent decades as it took up for consideration the Aadhaar bill on Wednesday. Essentially, the opposition in the upper house was uncomfortable with the classification of the bill as a ‘money bill’ on which it will have no say.

 
That is why Sitaram Yechury of CPM repeatedly asked the chair if the bill was “introduced” in the house or “moved”, and deputy chairman PJ Kurien had to clarify that being a money bill, it was merely “transmitted” from the lower house.
 
 
The opposition asked finance minister Arun Jaitley to explain on what grounds it was termed a “money bill”. In reply, Jaitley went on to make a pitch for the bill – presenting salient points, giving full credit to the previous UPA regime for the conception of Aadhaar – but when pressed to clarify the classification, he repeated the argument he had made a fortnight ago in the lower house.
 
Jaitley maintained that in “pith and substance” the bill was about subsidies, hence related to the consolidated fund of India, and thus fully satisfying the criteria for a money bill laid down in Article 110 of the constitution. “Government money is spent on subsidies. You insist on the identity of the person (beneficiary) and this law is about how to identify that person.”
 
The constitution, however, uses the term ‘only’ – the bill has to be only and exclusively about the consolidated fund. Replying to that argument from the opposition, the finance minister cited the first Lok Sabha speaker, Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, who (Jaitley said) had ruled very clearly that the only law that would satisfy that criterion would be a single section law. In other words, Jaitley argued that any bill solely related to the matters concerning the consolidated fund of India would also have administrative machinery in it and that does not disqualify it as a money bill.
 
Jaitley compared the old UPA bill – about giving the legal backing to the UIDAI set up by an executive order – and the new Aadhaar bill. His argument was that the former was primarily about setting up an authority, and hence not a money bill per se, whereas the latter was essentially about plugging subsidy leakage and hence a money bill – even if it also has other provisions about privacy and other matters related to the process of saving subsidy.
 
He also added that going by the constitutional criteria it is the Lok Sabha speaker’s decision to call a legislation ‘money bill’ and “no authority of this land can challenge it”.
 

Comments

 

Other News

Trump’s tariff ploy sparks resistance from Global South

In the history of BRICS, never has any joint statement issued after a leader-level summit contained any remarks—directly or indirectly, against the US. However, for the first time, during the 17th summit of BRICS in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, leaders voiced their concern about America’s impositi

How India can become a $30 tn economy by 2047: A blueprint

Viksit Bharat: India @2047  By Aditya Pittie Fingerprint Publishing This timely and meticulously

The saga of a language family that has shaped the world

Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global By Laura Spinney Distributed in India by HarperCollins India, 352 pages, Rs 599

MapleCloud Technologies, DevRay & Iris Global Demonstrate Successful Collaboration at PartnerSphere 2025

With the theme “Building Bonds, Driving Growth,” the evening brought together industry leaders, technology innovators, and channel partners—highlighting the collective strength and future-forward vision of India’s ICT ecosystem. A proud homegrown OEM, MapleCloud Techno

Over 200 Illegal weapons seized in Manipur

In one of the largest arms recoveries in recent months, joint security forces in Manipur have seized more than 200 illegal weapons along with ammunition and explosives during coordinated search operations across the state’s hill districts. The operations were carried out between the ni

A key scripture in a reader-friendly version

Ishavasya Upanishad By Swami Mukundananda Rupa Books, 192 pages, Rs 395.00 Ishavasya Upanishad enjoys a un

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter