After 60 years, there is talk of making the law Commission of India a permanent, statutory body. The Centre informed a Parliamentary Standing Committee recently that it has plans to turn the panel into a permanent body instead of reconstituting it every three years. The commission, by convention, is headed by a former Supreme Court judge but the present Twentieth law Commission is headed by Justice AP Shah, retired Chief Justice of Delhi High Court.
When the Demand for Grants to the law Commission came up for discussion before a Parliamentary Standing Committee, Secretary PK Malhotra of the Department of legal Affairs deposed and disclosed the plan of the Centre to grant statutory status to the commission. He said, “Since the law Commission of India is continuously functioning since 1959 and is reconstituted every three years, it is suggested that it be made a permanent body either by an Executive Order or by an Act of Parliament.”
In its recommendation, the committee said, “Since the law Commission of India is being regularly reconstituted since 1959 and its reports are considered seriously both inside and outside the Government, its relevance would never be relegated to the background. The Government may explore the possibility of making it a permanent body.” With limited financial resources and manpower, the commission has played an active role to suggest legal reforms and provided assistance on cryptic legal issues pending with the Government and Supreme Court. The present commission constituted on September 1, 2012 for a three-year tenure has so far submitted 13 reports dealing with obsolete laws, criminal law amendments and electoral reforms.
Although the commission has submitted 256 reports, the Government has considered only 106 out of which 91 were accepted while 15 were rejected. Commenting on the slow pace of dealing with law Commission reports by the Government, the Standing Committee expressed concern. In its recommendation it said, “the Government should take decision on the recommendation of the law Commission in a time-bound manner preferably within a year of submission of the report.”