When Courts Enter Parliament: Judicial Review of Legislative Procedure and Parliamentary Autonomy in India and South Africa

In India, a Bill certified by the Speaker as a Money Bill can become law without the Rajya Sabha’s approval, and the Indian Constitution says the Speaker’s decision is final. Can courts check that decision? This article studies the question through Articles 110(3) and 122, the drafting history and the Supreme Court’s cases. In India the abuse of the Money Bill classification under Article 110(3) to bypass the Rajya Sabha shielded by the procedural immunity clause of Article 122 has created a crisis of bicameral balance and democratic accountability. It argues that the Court separates illegality from irregularity in privilege cases but not in Money Bill cases, where it relies on an unexamined remark. A comparison with South Africa, whose courts review the classification of Bills, helps to suggest a clearer test courts should review procedure that the Constitution itself requires, and leave alone procedure that a House makes for itself.