what is appropriation bill(114(ii))?
Answers
The Appropriation Bill under the Indian Constitution is related to the Budget making process by the Government. According to Article 114 of the Indian constitution, no money can be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund of India ( which basically comprises of the major fund of the govt. of India) to meet specified expenditure except under an appropriation made by Law.
The Appropriation Bill becomes the Appropriation Act after it is assented to by the President. This Act authorises (or legalises) the payments from the Consolidated Fund of India. This means that the government cannot withdraw money from the Consolidated Fund of India till the enactment of the appropriation bill.
The Appropriation Bill gives power to the government to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Fund of India for meeting the expenditure during the financial year.
To understand Appropriation Bill better, we need to know about the Budget process.
The budget goes through the following six stages in the Parliament:
1. Presentation of budget.
2. General discussion.
3. Scrutiny by departmental committees.
4. Voting on demands for grants.
5. Passing of Appropriation bill.
6. Passing of finance bill.
So, it forms the vital part of Budget to get the appropriation bill approved for the government to be able to receive any money for its Budget implementation. Appropriation here basically means the authority given to the Govt. by the Parliament to withdraw money from the Consolidate Fund of India for all the items approved in the presented Budget. Accordingly, an appropriation bill is introduced to provide for the appropriation (out of the Consolidated Fund of India) for all money required to meet:
(a) The grants voted by the Lok Sabha.
(b) The expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.
Edit:
As per Article 112 (3) and Article 202 (3) of the Constitution of India, certain expenditures do not require a vote and is charged on the Consolidated Fund. These are called the Non-votable charges or Charged Expenditures, which have to be paid in any case, whether the budget is passed or not passed.
They include salary, allowances and pension for the President as well as Governors of States, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of People, the Comptroller General of India and Judges of the Supreme and High Courts. They also include interest and other debt related charges of the Government and any sums required to satisfy any court judgment pertaining to the Government.
Thus, the Govt. can get its hands on the Consolidated Fund reserves for implementing its Budget programmes only after the Appropriation Bill is approved by the Parliament and is finally given assent to by the President of India