With reference to the Union Government, consider the following statements:  1) The Department of Revenue is responsible for the preparation of Union Budget that is presented to the parliament 2) No amount can be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund of India without the authorisation of the Parliament of India. 3) All the disbursements made from Public Account also need the authorisation from the Parliament of India Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Only statement 2 is correct, so the answer is C. Under Article 266(3) and Article 114, no money can be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund of India except under an appropriation law passed by Parliament. This is the core of parliamentary control over government spending.

• Statement 1 is wrong. The Union Budget is prepared by the Budget Division of the Department of Economic Affairs under the Ministry of Finance. The Department of Revenue handles tax policy and collection, not budget preparation.
• Statement 3 is wrong. Under Article 266(2), the Public Account is operated by the executive. Its disbursements, such as small savings and provident fund balances, do not require a parliamentary appropriation vote.

Connect this to the Mains syllabus on Indian polity and governance, especially the financial accountability role of the Public Accounts Committee and the Comptroller and Auditor General. Those bodies check spending that Parliament has not specifically voted on.

Trap: Aspirants often assume every government outflow needs a parliamentary vote. The Public Account is the exception, and this is exactly where statement 3 catches people.