PART E
stage. The Speaker can only decide whether or not to certify a Bill once it has passed the House.82
Section 3 of the 1911 Act provides finality to the certificate issued by the Speaker and renders it immune from judicial review. According to it: “Any certificate of the Speaker of the House of Commons given under this Act shall be conclusive for all purposes, and shall not be questioned in any court of law.” (Emphasis supplied)
The Act provides finality to the decision of the Speaker of the House of Commons. By using the phrase “shall not be questioned in any court of law”, the Act grants immunity to the Speaker’s decision from judicial review.
The statutory concept of a ‘Money Bill’ and the Speaker’s certification of a Bill as a ‘Money Bill’ introduced by the Parliament Act, 1911 ultimately found its way into the Constitution of India, but with significant modifications.
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In India, the categorization of Money Bills can be said to have begun
from the Commonwealth of India Bill 1925, which was drafted by a National Convention comprised of 250 members, with Tej Bahadur Sapru as its Chairman. Article 36 of the Commonwealth Bill provided: “36. (a) Any Bill which appropriates revenue or moneys for the ordinary annual services of the Government shall deal only with such appropriation.
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House of Lords, Select Committee on the Constitution, Money Bills and Commons Financial Privilege (2011), available at https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldselect/ldconst/97/97.pdf
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