Money bill and appropriation bill deemed to be passed in Council after 14 days

Amaravati: The controversy over the non-passing of Appropriation Bill in the Council, continued even after the House Adjourned Sine Die. A Constitutional stalemate emerged after the Council adjourned sine die on Wednesday without passing the bill. Perhaps, this is the first time in the history of the State to witness such a worst situation. Meanwhile, some of the experts have been claiming that the Upper House, that is Council in the State, has nothing to do with the finance and money bills and will be considered as deemed to be passed after completing 14 days of passing the bill in the Assembly.

It is worth mentioning here that Article 198 of the Constitution of India clearly mentioned the procedure adopted for consideration of the Appropriation of Money bills in the State Legislature.

According to the Article 198 (5), "If a Money Bill passed by the Legislative Assembly and transmitted to the Legislative Council for its recommendations is not returned to the Legislative Assembly within fourteen days, it shall be deemed to have been passed by both Houses at the expiration of the said period in the form in which it was passed by the Legislative Assembly". That means, even though the Council either considers it or not, the Bill gets passed after 14 days.

As the Money Bills and Appropriation Bills were passed in the Assembly on June 17, the 14 days count starts from that day onwards. That means, by June 30, the 14 days period will be completed. On the other hand, till June 30, the Ordinance which was promulgated earlier would be in force. The government will be able to draw money from the exchequer from July 1 or next day, according to the sources in the Assembly Secretariat.

The Legislature Secretary Balakrishnamacharyulu also observed that as per the constitutional provision, after 14 days of the passing of the money bill in the Assembly, it will be considered as deemed to be passed in the both the Houses.