Government of India Act 1935

Procedure in Financial matters.

78 Annual financial statement.

(1) The Governor shall in respect of every financial year cause to be laid before the Chamber or Chambers of the Legislature a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Province for that year, in this Part of this Act referred to as the " annual financial statement."

(2) The estimates of expenditure embodied in the annual financial statement shall show separately—

(a) the sums required to meet expenditure described by this Act as expenditure charged upon the revenues of the Province; and

(b) the sums required to meet other expenditure proposed to be made from the revenues of the Province,

and shall distinguish expenditure on revenue account from other expenditure, and indicate the sums, if any, which are included solely because the Governor has directed their inclusion as being necessary for the due discharge of any of his special responsibilities.

(3) The following expenditure shall be expenditure charged on the revenues of each Province—

(a) the salary and allowances of the Governor and other expenditure relating to his office for which provision is required to be made by Order in Council;

(b) debt charges for which the Province is liable, including interest, sinking fund charges and redemption charges, and other expenditure relating to the raising of loans and the service and redemption of debt;

(c) the salaries and allowances of ministers, and of the Advocate-General;

(d) expenditure in respect of the salaries and allowances of judges of any High Court;

(e) expenditure connected with the administration of any areas which are for the time being excluded areas;

(f) any sums required to satisfy any judgment, decree or award of any court or arbitral tribunal;

(g) any other expenditure declared by this Act or any Act of the Provincial Legislature to be so charged.

(4) Any question whether any proposed expenditure falls within a class of expenditure charged on the revenues of the Province shall be decided by the Governor in his discretion.

79 Procedure in Legislature with respect to estimates.

(1) So much of the estimates of expenditure as relates to expenditure charged upon the revenues of a Province shall not be submitted to the vote of the Legislative Assembly, but nothing in this subsection shall be construed as preventing the discussion in the Legislature of those estimates, other than estimates relating to expenditure referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of the last preceding section.

(2) So much of the said estimates as relates to other expenditure shall be submitted, in the form of demands for grants, to the Legislative Assembly, and the Legislative Assembly shall have power to assent, or to refuse to assent, to any demand, or to assent to a demand subject to a reduction of the amount specified therein.

(3) No demand for a grant shall be made except on the recommendation of the Governor.

80 Authentication of schedule of authorised expenditure.

(1) The Governor shall authenticate by his signature a schedule specifying—

(a) the grants made by the Assembly under the last preceding section;

(b) the several sums required to meet the expenditure charged on the revenues of the Province but not exceeding, in the case of any sum, the sum shown in the statement previously laid before the Chamber or Chambers:

Provided that, if the Assembly have refused to assent to any demand for a grant or have assented to such a demand subject to a reduction of the amount specified therein, the Governor may, if in his opinion the refusal or reduction would affect the due discharge of any of his special responsibilities, include in the schedule such additional amount, if any, not exceeding the amount of the rejected demand or the reduction, as the case may be, as appears to him necessary in order to enable him to discharge that responsibility.

(2) The schedule so authenticated shall be laid before the Assembly but shall not be open to discussion or vote in the Legislature.

(3) Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding section, no expenditure from the revenues of the Province shall be deemed to be duly authorised unless it is specified in the schedule so authenticated.

81 Supplementary statements of expenditure.

If in respect of any financial year further expenditure from the revenues of the Province becomes necessary over and above the expenditure theretofore authorised for that year, the Governor shall cause to be laid before the Chamber or Chambers a supplementary statement showing the estimated amount of that expenditure, and the provisions of the preceding sections shall have effect in relation to that statement and that expenditure as they have effect in relation to the annual financial statement and the expenditure mentioned therein.

82 Special provisions as to financial Bills.

(1) A Bill or amendment making provision—

(a) for imposing or increasing any tax; or

(b) for regulating the borrowing of money or the giving of any guarantee by the Province, or for amending the law with respect to any financial obligations undertaken or to be undertaken by the Province; or

(c) for declaring any expenditure to be expenditure charged on the revenues of the Province, or for increasing the amount of any such expenditure,

shall not be introduced or moved except on the recommendation of the Governor, and a Bill making such provision shall not be introduced in a Legislative Council.

(2) A Bill or amendment shall not be deemed to make provision for any of the purposes aforesaid by reason only that it provides for the imposition of fines or other pecuniary penalties, or for the demand and payment of fees for licences or fees for services rendered.

(3) A Bill which, if enacted and brought into operation, would involve expenditure from the revenues of a Province shall not be passed by a Chamber of the Legislature unless the Governor has recommended to that Chamber the consideration of the Bill.

83 Provisions with respect to certain educational grants.

(1) If in the last complete financial year before the commencement of this Part of this Act a grant for the benefit of the Anglo-Indian and European communities or either of them was included in the grants made in any Province for education, then in each subsequent financial year, not being a year in which the Provincial Legislative Assembly otherwise resolve by a majority which includes at least three-fourths of the members of the Assembly, a grant shall be made for the benefit of the said community or communities not less in amount than the average of the grants made for its or their benefit in the ten financial years ending on the thirty-first day of March, nineteen hundred and thirty-three :

Provided that, if in any financial year the total grant for education in the Province is less than the average of the total grants for education in the Province in the said ten financial years, then, whatever fraction the former may be of the latter, any grant made under this subsection in that financial year for the benefit of the said community or communities need not exceed that fraction of the average of the grants made for its or their benefit in the said ten financial years.

In computing for the purposes of this subsection the amount of any grants, grants for capital purposes shall be included.

(2) The provisions of this section shall cease to have effect in a Province if at any time the Provincial Legislative Assembly resolve by a majority which includes at least three-fourths of the members of the Assembly that those provisions shall cease to have effect.

(3) Nothing in this section affects the special responsibility of the Governor of a Province for the safeguarding of the legitimate interests of minorities.