The passage of the Aadhaar Bill by the Lok Sabha as a ‘Money Bill’, ignoring amendments recommended by the Upper House of Parliament, came under the Supreme Court scanner with Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh calling it a “constitutional fraud.”
The case may also see the highest judiciary examine whether the Speaker’s authority to declare a Bill as ‘Money Bill’ is absolute or not.
On March 11, the Aadhaar Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha after the Speaker ruled it as a ‘Money Bill’. It was then transmitted to the Rajya Sabha.
The Upper House on March 16 returned the Bill with five amendments moved by Mr. Ramesh. These recommenda-tions were rejected by the Lok Sabha, which passed the law. “The introduction of the Aadhaar Bill as a ‘Money Bill’ is nothing but a brazen and mala fide attempt to bypass the approval of the Rajya Sabha,” said the petition by Mr. Ramesh.
Appearing before a Bench led by CJI T.S. Thakur, senior advocate P. Chidambaram said the passage of the Aadhaar law was “grossly unconstitutional.” The Bench called for the presence of Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi in the next hearing scheduled for May 10.
Mr. Ramesh said his petition was meant to “thwart an alarming attempt made by members of the Lok Sabha subverting the democratic and constitutional process of law-making.” He asked the Supreme Court whether the “present case in view of the deliberate attempt to bypass the Rajya Sabha by introducing an ordinary financial Bill as a Money Bill is a blatant constitutional fraud being played on the democratic process of law-making?”
