ONE YEAR ON, DELHI GOVERNMENT FAILS TO REPEAL OBSOLETE LAWS
icy advisory, who has been leading the initiative, said, “AAP had started off enthusiastically to weed out the obsolete laws. With Raghav Chadha willing to work on the reform, we were hopeful. We met the Delhi Law Secretary in January 2016. We have not heard from them after that.” On the other hand, the Central government has been working to remove obsolete laws. Until May last year, the NDA government at the Centre had weeded out 1,159 obsolete laws inside two years of coming to power. This was in contrast to 1,301 such outdated laws repealed by successive governments in 64 years.
The CCS has been working on initiatives to repeal obsolete laws in different states as part of their effort to modernise the legal system in the country. A similar list of 30 obsolete laws was given to Maharashtra. “The Maharashtra government took cognizance of the list we submitted and agreed to repeal 25 out of those 30 laws. This year, the process is expected to be completed,” Chandra said.
A source close to the process claimed that the Delhi government was sitting on the file of obsolete laws because “the law department does not have a list of laws that are exclusive to Delhi. First, the Law Department needs to know what all laws are applicable to Delhi only, after which they can decide on what is obsolete.”
The 25 laws that CCS has listed as obsolete are: East Punjab (Exchange of Prisoners) Act 1948; Punjab Village and Small Towns Patrol Act 1918; Delhi Stay of Proceedings (Revenue Courts) Act 1953; Madras Restriction of Habitual Offenders Act 1948; Punjab Copying Fees Act 1936; Punjab Military Transport Act; The Madras Livestock Improvement Act 1940; Punjab Tractor Cultivation (Recovery of Charges) Act 1949; East Punjab Agricultural Pests, Diseases and Noxious Weeds Act, 1949; Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955; Bombay Relief Undertakings ( Special Provisions) Act 1958; Orissa Warehouses Act 1956; Delhi Primary Education Act 1960; Bombay Smoke Nuisances Act 1912; Punjab Wild Birds and Animal Protection, Punjab Cinemas (Regulation) Act 1952; East Punjab Opium Smoking Act 1948; Madras Gift Goods ( Unlawful Possession) Act 1961; East Punjab Animal Contagious Diseases Act 1948; Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act 1916; Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act 1920; The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act 1959; Uttar Pradesh Fire Service Act 1944; Towns Nuisances Act 1889 and Punjab Suppression of Indecent Advertisement Act 1941.
Chandra said, “The laws in this compendium need to be repealed on account of any one of three reasons—they are either redundant (having outlived their purpose); they have been superseded or subsumed by newer, more current laws; or they pose a material impediment to growth, development, good governance and individual freedom. Most of the laws in this compendium would not invite substantial debate, since they do not serve any meaningful purpose. In the case of other more controversial laws, few as they are in this compendium, our arguments for repeal have taken cognisance of the political realities surrounding legislation in India. Yet, we have included these to invite a discussion on the appropriate manner, scope and method of achieving the goals and intents of the laws in question.”