Constitutional Bodies-Finance Commision

The Indian Constitution prescribes the formation of constitutional bodies. There are many independent authorities under constitutional bodies, out of which Finance Commission is one of the independent authorities. Finance Commission comes under the category of the non-judicial body, which can interpret the law. Under Article 280, the constitution has provided the complete formation of the Finance Commission. It is constituted  every five years, but sometimes if the president feels its necessity earlier, it can be reformed before five years. It plays an important role in tax distribution between unions and states.

Constitutional Bodies:

The Indian constitution prescribes the formation of the constitutional authorities. Its rights and powers are in the hand of the Constitution itself. The constitutional bodies’ powers and functions cannot be changed by any regular, private, or government bill but only by passing a constitutional amendment bill. There are various bodies under the Constitution of India, and the real meaning of constitutional bodies will be understood after reading the full article. The authorities enjoy different powers, have different features and functions, and have different responsibilities that they need to fulfill. 

Constitutional bodies have many responsibilities and perform many functions according to which a country or a state is constituted or governed.

Some  important Functions of the Constitution are the following:

• The most important function of the constitution is to ensure the fundamental rights of its citizens.
• The constitution is responsible for laying out the procedures for several administrations, functions, execution of the government machinery, and legislation.

•  A set of basic rules is provided by the constitution that maintains the harmony of society.
• The specification of who makes decisions in society lies in the hand of the constitution.

Various Constitutional Bodies:

1. Election Commission
2. Finance Commission
3. State Public Service Commission
4. Attorney General of India
5. Comptroller and Auditor General of India
6. Advocate General of the State
7. Inter-State Council
8. Goods and Services Tax Council

About Finance Commision:

• The Finance Commission has sufficient and certain powers to exercise its function within its activity domains within its activity domain.

• As per the Code of Civil Procedure, the finance commission has all the powers of the Civil Court.

• Following are the matters on which the president gets some recommendations from the finance committee.

• On the plan of distribution of the net proceeds of taxes that is to be shared between the state and central government. 
• On determining the principles of governing these grants

Composition of Finance Commision:

• Finance Commission consists of a chairperson and four other members appointed by President. 
• Parliament determines the qualification of the members and the manner of this selection. 
• They are eligible for reappointment.
•  The four members should be selected from amongst the following:

A high court judge or one qualified to be appointed as such.

A person with specialised knowledge in finance and accounts of the government.

A person with wide experience in financial matters and administration.

A person with special knowledge in economics.

Functions of Finance Commission:

Finance Commission makes recommendations to the president on the following matters:

• Distribution and allocation of the net proceeds of the taxes between centres and states and among different states.
• The principles that should govern the grants-in-aid to the states.
• Measures are needed to augment the state’s consolidated fund to supplement the resources of local bodies.
• Any other matter referred to it by the president of India.

Role of Finance Commission:

• The Commission needs to submit its report to the President, who presents it to both the houses of the Parliament.
• The Finance commission made some advisory recommendations to the government which are not binding on the government.
•  Finance Commission is envisaged as the balancing wheel of fiscal federalism in India.

State Finance Commission:

It performs the same functions as the Central Finance Commission. The functions that the central finance commission performs concerning the centre and states similar functions concerning the States and local bodies are performed by the State Finance Commission.

• After every five years, the state government shall constitute a state finance commission.
• Articles 243-I and  243- Y deal with the formation of this body.
• The concerned state legislature decides the composition, qualification of the member,s and the manner of their selection.

Functions of State Finance Commission:

• It distributes the taxes, tolls,s and fees between the state and local bodies.

• It assigns the determination of the taxes and fees to the local bodies.
• It gives money to the local bodies from the state’s funds. 
• It focuses on the measures that need to be taken to improve local bodies’ financial position.
• Any other matter reported to the Commission by the state’s governor is reported by the state finance commission.

Conclusion:

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down all the rules and regulations that the nation should abide by and is the framework for political principles, procedures, duties and powers of government. The constitution consists of many bodies that perform important functions and responsibilities for the betterment of the country. In this article, we discussed Finance Commission. It performs many functions and has many responsibilities. It mainly focuses on the Distribution and allocation of the net proceeds of the taxes between centres and states and among different states.