Hyderabad: President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday approved the Telangana Bill for introduction in Parliament. It is, however, not clear when the Bill will come up in Parliament.
The T Bill was not the part of the Revised List of Business of Rajya Sabha which was issued late in the night. It appears that the government is still mulling over introducing the Bill in the Rajya Sabha as doubts have been raised over bringing the legislation, which contains financial implications and expenditure from the Consolidate Fund of India, first in the Upper House.
As per Article 109 of the Constitution, any Bill that involves expenditure should be first introduced only in the Lok Sabha and not in the Rajya Sabha.
The Constitution also says it is the responsibility of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha to decide whether a legislation is a money Bill or not before introduction.
However, there is a ‘B’ category which allows a Bill containing financial assurances from the Consolidated Fund to be introduced in either House of Parliament.
According to reports, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari has sought legal opinion from the government on whether the Rajya Sabha is competent to get the T Bill introduced by bypassing the Lok Sabha.
According to sources, the ruling party, if it able to get unconditional support from the BJP, will go ahead with the T Bill process after securing the suspension of the agitating Seemandhra members.
The support of the 47-member BJP is crucial for the smooth passage of the T Bill; the ruling party has 72 members in the 243-member Upper House. Otherwise the Congress needs the support of other parties.
