Which of the following are the methods of Parliamentary control over public finance in India?
- 1.Placing Annual Financial Statement before the Parliament
- 2.Withdrawal of moneys from Consolidated Fund of India only after passing the Appropriation Bill
- 3.Provisions of supplementary grants and vote-on-account
- 4.A periodic or at least a mid-year review of programme of the Government against macroeconomic forecasts and expenditure by a Parliamentary Budget Office
- 5.Introducing Finance Bill in the Parliament
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only
Statements 1, 2, 3 and 5 are real tools of Parliament's financial control, each rooted in the Constitution's Budget procedure. Statement 4 fails because India had no Parliamentary Budget Office in 2012. The closest proposal, a fiscal council, was meant to report to the Finance Ministry, not to Parliament.
- ✓ 1. Article 112 requires the President to lay the Annual Financial Statement (the Budget) before both Houses of Parliament. This puts the government's estimated receipts and expenditure under Parliament's scrutiny.
- ✓ 2. Article 114(3) bars any withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund of India except under an appropriation made by law. That law is the Appropriation Act, passed by Parliament.
- ✓ 3. Under Article 115, a supplementary grant is needed when the amount already authorised for a year proves insufficient. Under Article 116, the Lok Sabha can make a grant in advance (vote on account) for part of the year while the full Budget procedure is pending. Both require parliamentary approval.
- ✗ 4. India had no Parliamentary Budget Office in 2012. The 13th Finance Commission (December 2009) only hoped that a review committee would, over time, evolve into a fiscal council. That council was to be an autonomous body reporting to the Ministry of Finance, not to Parliament. Fiscal reviews such as the Macro-economic Framework Statement were presented by the government itself under the FRBM Act, not by a parliamentary office.
- ✓ 5. The Finance Bill is presented under Article 110(1)(a) and carries the tax proposals of the Budget. Article 265 says no tax can be levied or collected except by authority of law. Parliament's passing of this Bill is therefore its control over taxation.
Remember · Parliament controls money through the Budget (Art. 112), the Appropriation Act (Art. 114), supplementary grants and vote on account (Arts. 115–116) and the Finance Bill (Arts. 110 and 265). India had no Parliamentary Budget Office in 2012.
Sources
- Constitution of India, Article 112 (Annual financial statement) ↗ “The President shall in respect of every financial year cause to be laid before both the Houses of Parliament a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India for that year … no money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund of India except under appropriation made by law passed in accordance with the provisions of this article. … the House of the People shall have power— (a) to make any grant in advance in respect of the estimated expenditure for a part of any financial year pending the completion of the procedure prescribed in article 113 … No tax shall be levied or collected except by authority of law.”
- Department of Economic Affairs, Brief Description of the Budget Documents (Finance Bill) ↗ “The Finance Bill is presented in fulfilment of the requirement of Article 110(1)(a) of the Constitution, detailing the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of taxes proposed in the Budget.”
- Thirteenth Finance Commission Report (Dec 2009), para 9.66 ↗ “It is to be hoped that this Committee would, over time, evolve into a full-fledged Fiscal Council. We are of the view that given India’s legislative and executive structure, the Council should act as an autonomous body reporting to the Ministry of Finance”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2012, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
