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:

The correct answer is A (1, 2, 3 and 5 only). Statement 4 is the odd one out.

• Statement 1 is correct. The Annual Financial Statement (the Budget) must be laid before Parliament under Article 112.
• Statement 2 is correct. Under Article 114, money cannot be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund without an Appropriation Bill passed by Parliament.
• Statement 3 is correct. Supplementary grants, excess grants and vote-on-account let Parliament authorise extra or interim spending, subject to its approval.
• Statement 5 is correct. Taxation proposals travel through the Finance Bill, which is introduced in the Lok Sabha and is a core instrument of parliamentary control over revenue.
• Statement 4 is wrong. India has no statutory Parliamentary Budget Office in 2012. The mid-year review of the economy is carried out by the Finance Ministry itself, not by a Parliament body. Parliamentary scrutiny happens through the PAC, the Estimates Committee, the Public Accounts Committee and CAG reports.

The core concept is the principle that no money is spent or raised without legislative authority, which is central to GS-II (Polity and Governance) and GS-III (Economy). For Mains, link it to fiscal accountability and the debate on strengthening financial oversight.

Trap: Candidates tend to reject statement 5 because a Finance Bill sounds like a government document rather than a control mechanism. Also watch for statement 4 sounding plausible because of a 'budget office' in other countries.