Even as the State Government has decided to set up a law Commission, making it a reality looks to be a cumbersome process in view of its vast objectives and pre-existing challenges in the legal sector.
The proposed commission is aimed to improve and revise the existing laws and enact new ones in consonance with the present scenario. The complex job of advising the State Government to amend the existing laws, repeal the obsolete ones and bring new laws could only be undertaken by persons having sufficient experience and expertise in various branches of law and administration of law and justice.
Besides, it will lay emphasis on faster verdict and increasing the conviction rate along with withdrawing of cases out of over 13 lakh cases lying pending in the High Court and various subordinate courts.
The proposed commission would be headed by a retired Chief Justice of a High Court or a retired Judge of the Supreme Court. It will have 10 members and the tenure of the Chairperson and members will be three years.
The existing law Revision Committee, which will be replaced by the proposed law Commission, has been lying defunct since 2007.
Earlier, it was providing important suggestions to the Government regarding legal reforms. As retired Government officers and political leaders were rehabilitated in it, the committee gradually became defunt. No Chairperson has been appointed in the committee since 2007.
The rate of conviction in criminal cases in Odisha is considerably less than the national average due to error and other reasons. According to a NCRB report, the conviction rate in IPC cases was only 16.4 per cent in the State in 2014 against the national average of 45 per cent. The conviction rate was 77 per cent in Kerala, 65 per cent in Meghalaya, 57 per cent in Rajasthan, 66 per cent in Tamil Nadu, 53 per cent in Uttar Pradesh and 58 per cent in Arunachal Pradesh.
The CAG in its report has stated that the conviction rate in excise-related cases is remaining between 6 and 8 per cent per year in Odisha. Similarly, the conviction rate in different domestic violence cases is less than 10 per cent in the State.
While the Government is losing many cases, it has become a big challenge in the administrative and social system. Amidst such situation, everyone’s eyes are lying on the proposed law Commission, which is aimed at bringing reforms in the legal system.
According to sources, around 6 lakh cases are pending for five years. As per a Government policy framed in 2011, there should be no 5-year-old case pending in the State.
