New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider setting up a Constitution bench to hear pleas challenging the validity of passing laws like the Aadhaar Act as money bills, allegedly to bypass the Rajya Sabha.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh welcomed the move, stating on X, "In the last 10 years many Bills have been bulldozed through Parliament by having them declared 'Money Bills' under Article 110 of the Constitution. A good example of this is the Aadhaar Act of 2016."
The passage of bills such as the Aadhaar Act and amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as money bills, purportedly to circumvent the Rajya Sabha where the NDA lacked a majority, has been a focal point of political and legal contention. Currently, the BJP holds 86 seats and the ruling NDA 101 seats in the 245-member Rajya Sabha, where the majority mark is 123.
Ramesh is one of the petitioners challenging the passage of the Aadhaar Act of 2016 as a money bill under Article 110 of the Constitution. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal informed a bench comprising Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that the pleadings are complete and the petitions are ready for hearing. Sibal emphasised the need for prioritising the creation of a Constitution bench, to which the CJI responded, "I will take the call when I form the Constitution benches."
The Congress welcomed the Supreme Court's decision, expressing hope for a final verdict before Justice Chandrachud retires in November this year.
Earlier, the top court had indicated it would constitute a seven-judge bench to consider the validity of passing laws like the Aadhaar Act as money bills.
A money bill is legislation that can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha cannot amend or reject it. The Upper House can only make recommendations, which the Lower House may or may not accept. In November 2019, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court referred the issue of examining the validity of the passage of the Finance Act, 2017, as a money bill to a larger bench.
"The issue and question of Money Bill, as defined under Article 110(1) of the Constitution, and certification accorded by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha in respect of Part-XIV of the Finance Act, 2017, is referred to a larger Bench," the five-judge bench stated. This bench had also struck down the rules governing the appointment and service conditions of tribunal members included in the Finance Act.
Previously, another bench of the top court, while upholding the constitutional validity of PMLA, had left open for adjudication by a larger bench the issue of the passage of its amendments as a money bill. In the Aadhaar verdict, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the law's passage as a money bill.
However, Justice Chandrachud, the current CJI, penned a dissenting judgment, calling the designation of the Aadhaar legislation as a money bill a "fraud on the Constitution."
