Minister, Opposition spar after Data Bill classified as 'financial Bill'

The introduction of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday led to heated debate with Information Technology (IT) Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw seeking to quash speculation that the Bill could be classified as a ‘money Bill’ classification. He described it as a “normal Bill”, but the Lok Sabha website has categorised the Bill as a ‘Financial Bill’.

Earlier that day, Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari took to Twitter, questioning: “How Did the Digital Data Protection Bill get classified as a Financial Bill suddenly?” He argued for the Bill’s consideration as a standard (Ordinary) Bill, suggesting it be redirected to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for review. “If this Bill on passage is certified as a Money Bill by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, which seems to be the intent of getting it classed as a Financial Bill, then the Rajya Sabha cannot vote on it. It can only recommend non-binding changes to the Lok Sabha,” Tewari said.

Tewari shared a copy of the presidential order classifying the Bill as a 'Financial Bill' under Article 117 of the Constitution. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that Tewari's concern was not merely “hypothetical”. “The Modi government has used the Money Bill route with Aadhaar, tribunals and the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) amendments. All three of these classifications by the Speaker as Money Bills are the subject matter of constitutional challenges by me before the Supreme Court, which have been admitted and are pending adjudication," he said.

According to the Bill’s ‘financial memorandum’, it envisages the creation of a Data Protection Board of India. “Since the structure of the Board is to be notified after enactment of the Bill, at this stage, the financial implication of the setting up and functioning of the Board is estimated to be about twenty-five crore rupees towards initial capital expenditure and ten crore rupees annually for recurring expenditure. The said expenditure is to be incurred from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India," it states.

Article 110 defines a ‘Money Bill’ as, among other things, a Bill concerning tax provisions and the expenditure or receipt of money from the Contingency Fund or Consolidated Fund of India. As former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash C Kashyap clarifies, not all ‘Financial Bills’ are ‘Money Bills’. Only those ‘Financial Bills’ that exclusively deal with matters specified under Article 110 of the Constitution and receive the Speaker's certification as ‘Money Bills’ can be labelled as such.

A ‘Money Bill’ can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha with the President’s recommendation, as per Article 117 (1), and the Rajya Sabha has no power to withhold its approval. But if not a ‘Money Bill’, the Rajya Sabha is fully empowered to reject or amend a ‘Financial Bill’, as it does in the case of an ‘Ordinary Bill’.