Shimla, Aug 28 (IANS): The Himachal Pradesh Assembly here on Wednesday repealed 20 laws, which the government said had lost their significance or had become obsolete and redundant.

Moving The Himachal Pradesh Repealing Bill, 2019, Law Minister Suresh Bhardwaj said the objective was to remove redundant laws from the statute book and bring in clarity.

"These laws have become either irrelevant or dysfunctional and importantly have outlived their utility," Bhardwaj said while listing a British era law.

Expressing concern over the move, CPI-M member Rakesh Singha said, "The Assembly is for making laws, not for repealing laws. The government is repealing 20 laws in one go. The House should reconsider (the passing of bill)."

Participating in the debate, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Congress) asked, "Have these laws been repealed by Parliament?"

On this, the Law Minister said they had become irrelevant and the new laws had come into force. "There was no need to continue with archaic laws," Bhardwaj said.

Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri demanded that the Bill should be sent to select committee.

Despite objections, the House passed the Bill by a voice vote.