Keeping in line with the need for updated laws for a modern society, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked the Government to identify all such old laws that hold no importance now and have lost their relevance and use in the present context.
The Prime Minister set up a two-member committee comprising of R Ramanujam (Secretary PMO) and VK Bhasin (former Secretary, legislative Department) to identify old obsolete laws and review new laws that have become redundant in the past 10-15 years. The Committee has been asked to submit its report within three months, so that a comprehensive Bill can be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament, based on its recommendations.
The Committee will examine all Acts recommended to be repealed by the PC Jain Commission that was appointed by the NDA Government in 1998. The Commission, set up by the Vajpayee Government in 1998, had recommended 1,382 Acts for repeal, but out of these only 415 have been repealed so far.
Expressing concern over such slow pace of repealing laws, the PM has called for a focused and result-oriented exercise to systematically weed out archaic laws and rules.
It is learnt that the Union law Ministry has already written to all Central Ministries and departments asking them to identify laws that need to be repealed. Repealing will also include changing the quantum of fines and punishments which in some cases still remain Rs50 and Rs100 for some offences.
Of the 1,382 Central Acts identified by the Jain Commission, 700 pertain to Appropriation Acts, 114 relate to State subjects, 166 to Central Acts including 11 Pre-Nationalisation Acts and 20 Validation Acts, 11 to British Statutes still in force, 17 to War-time Permanent Ordinances, 35 to Reorganisation Acts, 12 to laws applicable to High Courts and 12 to Personal laws.
In fact, the Jain Commission also took into account the two law commission reports — 96th (in 1984) and 148th (in 1993) — that recommended repealing of laws that were made to deal with situation arising from India-Pakistan Partition and pre-Independence time which have lost their relevance now. The 96th report recommended repealing of 22 Acts including Abolition of Privy Council Act 1949; Continuance of legal Proceedings Act 1948; Exchange of Prisoners Act between India and Pakistan (passed to deal with situation arising from Partition); Federal Acourt Act; India Independence Pakistan Courts (Pending proceedings) Act 1952; Indian Rifles Act etc.
The 148th report identified the dead woods in the Indian Statute Book with regard to pre-Independence laws and recommended repeal of five pre-1947 Central Acts. These were: The Forfeiture Act 1859; Ganges Tolls Act 1867; Acting Judges Act 1867; Companies (Foreign Interest) Act 1918; Promissory Notes (Stamp) Act 1926.
Interestingly, the new Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik has been seeking amendments in certain laws that were discriminatory towards people living with leprosy. Naik had in 2007 had petitioned Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari seeking amendments in these discriminatory laws terming them also as obsolete. These included section 56 of Indian Railways Act 1989, which gives the Railways the power to refuse to carry a person suffering from leprosy; Section 13 (IV) of Hindu Marriage, section 27 (1) (g) of Special Marriage Act, Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, Indian Christian Marriage Act and Indian Divorce Act under which the spouse can seek divorce if the other partner is suffering from virulent and incurable form of leprosy.