Daijiworld Media Network
Jun 22: Try this, an age old British law gave the British Monarchy power to review decisions taken by any Indian courts. According to the Indian Motor Vehicle Act of 1914 an inspector lacking oral hygiene could be disqualified. As bizarre as these laws may seem, they were part of archaic or antiquated laws that continued in our law books despite India being on its 70th year post Independence.
However, since taking to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has repealed more that 1,200 redundant Acts and 1,824 are being scrutinized for repeal.
Union Minister for Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad concurred that many of these laws did not suit the present circumstances and were acting hurdle in the smooth running of daily administration
Try this for instance :
- Indian Motor Vehicles Act 1914 required inspectors to maintain oral hygiene, and they stood to be disqualified for pigeon chest, knock knees, flatfeet and hammer toes.
- Over 100-year old law demanded that the toll tax for boats ferrying passengers across river Ganga cannot charge passengers more than two annas (no longer in circulation).
- A World War II era (anti-propaganda) law required policemen in few states to clear/seize/ensure that air-dropped pamphlets do not land under their jurisdiction.
- Another 200-year-old law gave the British royal family a say on all decisions by the Indian courts.
- Kites were defined as an aircraft under the Indian Aircraft Act- 1934, therefore it required one to obtain permission from relevant authorities similar as those required for an airplane.
- Under the Indian Treasure Trove Act of 1878, one could have been jailed if anything worth Rs. 10 was not reported to the revenue officer.
Although, similar attempts were made by the former Indian governments in the last 67 years and altogether 1,301 laws were declared obsolete, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has been going an extra mile. In the last three-years alone it has managed to uproot 1,200 Acts.
Cutting across the party-lines, the Central government has also received significant support in the opposition dominated Rajya Sabha - which has passed almost 1,159 of ‘repeals’ that were proposed by Lok Sabha. The Upper House has already passed four bills to this effect.
Besides this, laws related to employment regulation for hiring foreign nationals, prisoners exchange with Pakistan, price regulation of newspapers, laws on license to kill and capture of wild elephants, treatment and segregation of lepers, grant of titles to qualified persons in western medical science were under consideration for ‘repeal’ among others.
For the purpose, the government had formed a committee headed by R Ramanujam, secretary to the prime minister's office. The committee will re-examine all Acts recommended for repeal by the earlier committee on Review of Administrative Laws set up by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998.