FEDERATION VERSUS FREEDOM 325
of which the grant is composed.” Compare with this section 34 of the present Act of 1935 ; sub-section ( 1 ) of section 34 reads as follows:
“So much of the estimates of expenditure as relates to expenditure charged upon the revenues of the Federation shall not be submitted to the vote of the Legislature, but nothing in this sub-section shall be construed as preventing the discussion in either chamber of the Legislature of any of these estimates other than estimates relating to expenditure referred to in paragraph ( a ) or paragraph ( f ) of sub-section ( 3 ) of section 33.”
According to section 33 expenditure charged on the revenues of the Federation includes expenditure on the reserved subjects. On a comparison between the provisions of the two Acts, it is clear that under the old Act no distinctions were made by section 72D between Transferred and Reserved subjects, so far as the powers of the Legislature in regard to the granting of supply were concerned and the expenditure on Reserved subjects was not only open to discussion but was also subject to the vote of the Legislature. Under the provisions of section 34, of the new Act the Federal Legislature can only discuss the expenditure on the reserved subjects but cannot vote upon it. This is a very important distinction. Under the old constitution even the reserved subjects were amenable to the financial powers of the Legislature. Under the present constitution they arc independent of the financial powers of the Federal Legislature. It is true that in the provincial Constitution the vote of the Legislature with regard to expenditure on reserved subjects was not final. That under a proviso to section 72D the Governor was given the power “in relation to any such demand to act as if it had been assented to, notwithstanding the withholding of such assent or the reduction of the amount (by the Legislature) if the demand relates to reserved subject, and the Governor certifies that the expenditure provided for by the demand is essential to the discharge of his responsibility for the subject”. It is also true that in the Government of India Act, 1935 the amount of expenditure on reserved subjects is fixed to 42 crores. But the same difference exists, namely that under the old constitution the reserved subjects were amenable to the financial control of the Legislature while in the new constitution they are not. This difference is not a small difference. The power to grant supplies is the most effective mode of enforcing the responsibility of the executive. The power of certification might have deprived the Legislature of control of the reserved subjects. But it did not altogether destroy its influence. Under the present constitution the Legislature has not only no control over reserved subjects but also it cannot have any influence over them. There can therefore be no doubt that there was more responsibility in the dyarchy in the old Provincial Constitution than there is in this dyarchy in the Federation.
The fact that the Executive is not responsible to the Legislature is simply another way of stating that in the Federal Scheme the Executive