'Redundant' laws dating back to the Raj come under the axe as Modi streamlines India's 'ossified' justice system



Like those ancient specimens in a museum, they have been around for decades and centuries. Except that they are not mummies or fossils or samples of pottery dug out from the depths of history, but curious laws that have no relevance in modern India.



These are those ossified laws that put up obstacles to running smooth administration and businesses. And the Narendra Modi Government is in no mood to let them lurk anymore.



They will be identified and put on the chopping block, once for all. The aim is clear: laws need to be simple, focusing on good governance and investments.

New vision: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ambitious plan to do away with these obstructionist and archaic laws

Kicking off efforts to implement PM Modi's ambitious plan to do away with these obstructionist and archaic specimens, the Cabinet Secretariat has sent letters to all ministries to draw up a list of Acts that were getting in the way of smooth administration, and a better business climate, so that they can be repealed.

The Government has already asked the Law Commission to simplify laws for the clearance of projects to promote an investor-friendly climate.

The Government also has plans to put all information, especially regarding licences and contracts in respect to projects dealing with scarce natural resources, in the public domain.



Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said the Government was already working towards providing a single-window clearance for projects to woo foreign investors.



Strange laws

Among the myriad laws in India, there are those that make strange demands. Under the Indian Motor Vehicles Act 1914, an inspector in southern Andhra Pradesh must have brushed teeth, and will be disqualified if he has a pigeon chest, knock knees, flatfeet and hammer toes.



Or for that matter, under a century-old law the toll tax for boats ferrying passengers across river Ganges cannot be more than two annas - a denomination not in use anymore.



And then you have a 200-year-old law under which the British monarch has the right to review all court decisions in India.

The Urban Development Ministry has identified a law from 1949 that empowers the Government to force hotels in Delhi to provide rooms to it on demand, and to reserve at least 20 per cent of rooms for Government guests.



The laws enacted with the specific aim of dealing with the Partition continue to be in force.



Policemen in some states have to ensure that pamphlets dropped from the air do not fall in their area - aimed at foiling the propaganda war during the World War II.



The Indian Rifles Act provides for better discipline for local police officers enrolled in the Military Police. However, this law is totally irrelevant today as local police are no longer enlisted in the military.

Thankfully, time is running out for such laws. The Government recently formed a committee headed by R. Ramanujam, Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office to re-examine all Acts recommended to be repealed by the committee on Review of Administrative Laws appointed by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998.



The panel has been asked to submit a report within three months which will be discussed during the Winter Session of Parliament.



According to an official release, the Prime Minister has expressed concern that out of the 1,382 Acts recommended for repeal by that committee only 415 had been repealed so far.



Even the Ministry of Minority Affairs, which was set up only in 2005, has discovered that a slip during the drafting of the Wakf (Amendment) Act 2013 - which was notified last September - has allowed the Musalman Wakf Validating Acts of 1913 and 1930 to stay valid to date.



The Law Minister recently said he has assured the Prime Minister that up to 300 outdated laws will be repealed in the Winter Session of Parliament.



Revision Law commissions had from time to time recommended doing away with laws that no longer had any relevance or use.



In fact, obsolete laws prevent the smooth functioning of the administration. The P.C. Jain Commission, which had gone into the subject, had recommended repeal of nearly 1,400 laws, but many of them continue to remain valid.



Among the archaic laws, experts point out, is the Vagrancy Act under which anyone can be booked for strolling in frayed clothing.



The person can be booked for "loitering with intent" under the Act.



Yet another sample is the East Punjab Agricultural Pets, Diseases and Noxious Weeds Act, under which men can be dragooned into beating warning drums if locust invasions seem imminent.



Under the Coasting Vessels Act of 1838, it is necessary to brand fishing vessels with the name of the place she belongs to.

The Lepers Act of 1894 provides for segregation and medical treatment of lepers who are paupers.



According to legal experts, there is a need for periodic revision of laws so that those which have become useless can be repealed.



A suggestion that needs to be considered is to let Parliament and state legislatures specify a period of validity for any law, say 20 or 30 years, after which it will lapse.



This will be a permanent solution, experts say. In other words, they add, laws in India need to keep pace with time and not get stuck in the past.

