LS nod to bill for repealing or amending 71 laws

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill for repealing or amending 71 obsolete and outdated laws, with Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal asserting that the progressive legislation would contribute to ease of living for citizens.

Replying to a brief discussion on the Repealing and Amending Bill-2025, Meghwal said the proposed legislation was aimed at removing outdated laws, correcting errors that had crept in during the law-making process and removing discriminatory aspects of certain laws. The bill was passed by a voice vote.

“Under the Narendra Modi Government, no discrimination can exist in the statute books,” Meghwal said, referring to the Indian Succession Act. The Minister said that under the Indian Succession Act, 1925, if a Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain or Parsi makes a will, it has to be probated, while a similar provision does not apply to any other community.

The Bill seeks to repeal 71 Acts, including the Indian Tramways Act, 1886, the Levy Sugar Price Equalisation Fund Act, 1976, and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (Determination of Conditions of Service of Employees) Act, 1988.

The Bill also seeks to amend four Acts, including the General Clauses Act, 1897, the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, to update terminologies for registered posts, and the Indian Succession Act, 1925, to remove the requirement to obtain validation of wills by Courts in certain cases. The Bill also amends the Disaster Management Act, 2005, to rectify a drafting error.

So far, 1,562 old archaic laws have been repealed. Once the proposed Bill gets Parliament’s nod, the total number of laws to be repealed will stand at 1,633. Since May 2014, the Modi government has been consistently repealing colonial-era, archaic and obsolete laws to declutter statute books, Meghwal said.

“These reforms are a step towards liberation from a colonial mindset. Such laws that bore the imprint of colonialism... Are being abolished during the tenure of Prime Minister Modi,” Meghwal said. Meghwal said several members had raised issues that were not related to the Bill and he would not respond to them.