Indian Polity Quiz: Legislative Procedure and Types of Bills

The correct answer is B, Article 110. Article 110 lists the matters that make a Bill a Money Bill: taxation, borrowing by the Union, the custody of the Consolidated Fund and the Contingency Fund, appropriation of money from the Consolidated Fund, the declaring of expenditure charged on that Fund, and the receipt or audit of money on account of it. A Bill is a Money Bill only if it deals with nothing else. A, Article 109, is wrong because it does not define the Bill; it prescribes the special procedure a Money Bill follows, including introduction in the Lok Sabha alone and the fourteen-day limit on the Rajya Sabha. C, Article 112, is wrong because it deals with the annual financial statement, popularly called the Union Budget. D, Article 117, is wrong because it governs Financial Bills, which contain a matter of Article 110 along with other matters of general legislation.

The correct answer is C, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Article 110(3) says that if any question arises whether a Bill is a Money Bill, the decision of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha is final, and Article 110(4) requires the Speaker to endorse the certificate on the Bill when it is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha or sent for assent. The certificate cannot be questioned in any court or in either House. A, the President, is wrong because the President only recommends the introduction of a Money Bill and later gives assent to it. B, the Finance Minister, is wrong because a minister merely moves the Bill; the presiding officer, not the government, classifies it. D, the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, is wrong because the Rajya Sabha has no say in the classification, which is exactly why the Speaker's certificate is final.

The correct answer is B, 14 days. Under Article 109 a Money Bill passed by the Lok Sabha is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha, which may only make recommendations and must return the Bill within fourteen days. The Lok Sabha is free to accept or reject those recommendations, and if the Rajya Sabha fails to return the Bill within the period, the Bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses in the form in which the Lok Sabha passed it. A, 7 days, is wrong; no stage of the procedure uses that period. C, 21 days, is wrong, though candidates confuse it with other constitutional periods. D, 30 days, is wrong; it is sometimes mixed up with the six-week limit for approving an ordinance after Parliament reassembles. The fourteen-day rule is the single most tested fact in this chapter.

The correct answer is B, Article 108. Article 108 allows the President to summon a joint sitting of the two Houses when the other House has rejected the Bill, when the Houses have finally disagreed on the amendments to be made, or when more than six months have passed without the other House passing it. A, Article 107, is wrong because it only states the general provisions for the introduction and passing of ordinary Bills in either House. C, Article 111, is wrong because it deals with the assent of the President after both Houses have passed a Bill, giving the President the power to assent, withhold assent, or return an ordinary Bill for reconsideration. D, Article 123, is wrong because it empowers the President to promulgate an ordinance when Parliament is not in session, which is a law-making power outside the ordinary legislative procedure.

The correct answer is C, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. A joint sitting is summoned by the President but presided over by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha; if the Speaker is absent the Deputy Speaker presides, and in the absence of both the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha takes the chair. A, the President, is wrong because the President never presides over a sitting of Parliament and only addresses it under Article 86 or 87. B, the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, is a deliberate distractor: the Vice-President, as Chairman, does not preside over a joint sitting even though the Rajya Sabha is one of the two Houses meeting. D is wrong because the Constitution fixes an order of precedence among presiding officers and never falls back on seniority of members for a joint sitting.

The correct answer is B, a Constitution Amendment Bill. Article 368 requires each House to pass such a Bill separately by a special majority, and the Constitution provides no joint sitting for it; a Money Bill is also outside the scope of Article 108. A is wrong because the rejection of an ordinary Bill by the other House is one of the three grounds on which Article 108 expressly allows a joint sitting. C is wrong because a Financial Bill of Category I, although introduced only in the Lok Sabha on the President's recommendation, is in every other respect an ordinary Bill, so the Rajya Sabha may amend or reject it and a joint sitting may follow. D is wrong because a final disagreement over amendments to an ordinary Bill is the second ground listed in Article 108, and the Dowry Prohibition Bill of 1961 reached a joint sitting in just this way.

The correct answer is B, the Dowry Prohibition Bill. The two Houses disagreed over its amendments, a joint sitting was summoned in 1961, and the Bill became the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. A is wrong because the Banking Service Commission (Repeal) Bill went to the second joint sitting, held in 1978. C is wrong because the Prevention of Terrorism Bill was passed at the third joint sitting, held in 2002, and became POTA; it is a favourite distractor because it is the most recent of the three. D is wrong because the Hindu Succession Bill, part of the Hindu Code legislation of the 1950s, was passed by the ordinary procedure without any deadlock between the Houses. Remembering the three joint sittings in the order 1961, 1978 and 2002 answers most questions on Article 108.

The correct answer is B, Article 111. Once both Houses pass a Bill it is presented to the President, who may declare assent, declare that assent is withheld, which is the absolute veto, or return an ordinary Bill once with a message for reconsideration, which is the suspensive veto; if the Houses pass it again the President must assent. A, Article 110, is wrong because it only defines a Money Bill. C, Article 200, is wrong because it is the parallel provision for a State Bill presented to the Governor, who may also reserve the Bill for the consideration of the President under that article. D, Article 368, is wrong because it deals with the procedure for amending the Constitution; since the 24th Amendment of 1971 the President has no choice there and must give assent to a Constitution Amendment Bill.

The correct answer is B, a Money Bill. A Money Bill is introduced in the Lok Sabha only on the recommendation of the President, so the government has already obtained the President's approval of the proposal; Article 111 therefore allows the President only to assent to it or to withhold assent, not to return it. A is wrong because an ordinary Bill is exactly the kind of Bill the President may return once with a message, and the Houses may then pass it again with or without amendment. C is wrong because a Private Member's Bill differs only in who moves it; if it is an ordinary Bill it can be returned like any other. D is wrong because a Category II Financial Bill under Article 117(3) merely involves expenditure from the Consolidated Fund and is treated as an ordinary Bill for assent, so it too may be returned.

The correct answer is C. The Rajya Sabha is a permanent House that is never dissolved, so a Bill that originated there and has not yet been passed by the Lok Sabha survives the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and remains alive in the Rajya Sabha. A is wrong because a Bill still pending in the Lok Sabha dies with that House. B is wrong because a Bill passed by the Lok Sabha but awaiting the Rajya Sabha's decision also lapses, since the agreement of the dissolved House is no longer available. D is wrong because once the Rajya Sabha returns such a Bill with amendments it is back before the Lok Sabha, and a Bill pending before the dissolved House lapses. Bills awaiting assent, Bills returned by the President, and Bills for which a joint sitting has been notified do not lapse.

The correct answer is B. Article 109 read with Article 117(1) allows a Money Bill to be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, and Article 110(1) permits its introduction only on the recommendation of the President; it is always a Government Bill moved by a minister. A is wrong on both counts: the Rajya Sabha cannot take up a Money Bill at the stage of introduction, and a private member cannot move one. C is wrong because the Rajya Sabha is not the originating House for any money matter, and the Speaker's role is to certify the Bill, not to recommend its introduction. D is wrong because the recommendation must come from the President, who acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers; the Finance Minister introduces the Bill but his recommendation has no constitutional standing.

The correct answer is B. The special majority of Article 368 has two parts that must be satisfied together: a majority of the total membership of the House, and a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting. A is wrong because a simple majority of those present suffices only for ordinary Bills and for a few constitutional matters such as the creation of new States under Article 3. C is wrong because the two-thirds requirement is counted on the members present and voting, not on the total membership, which is a very common error. D is wrong because the two Houses never sit together for a Constitution Amendment Bill; Article 108 does not apply to it, so each House must muster the special majority separately, and certain amendments also need ratification by half the State legislatures.