Congress rages at money bill route, may move court

NEW DELHI: Congress on Wednesday threatened to move court against the Centre's decision to present the Aadhaar Bill as a “money bill“, accusing the Modi regime of fraudulently trying to bypass RS where it does not have a majority .

AICC spokesman Abhishek Singhvi called it a “colourable exercise of power“. He said the Speaker's certificate of a “money bill“ was binding in Parliament but had to be in conformity with the Constitution and thus justiciable. He recalled how the Supreme Court adjudicated in the Wadhwa case against Bihar for issuing ordinances without replacing them with Acts.

He said Article 110 (1) defined a “money bill“ and the Aadhaar legislation did not fall in the categories listed. “Failure to pass legislation because of lack of numbers can never be a ground of bypassing the Upper House,“ he said, adding that finance minister Arun Jaitley has repeatedly sought a rethink on the need to pass the bills through two Houses.

The strong reaction amplified the Congress opposition to the Modi government which has been riding on UPA-Left's majority in the Upper House. The threat of a judicial challenge appeared to make up for the fact that the amendments forced in RS were academic in nature in case of a “money bill“.