The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday cleared the 'Law and Policy - 2023' document which proposed laws to prevent theft of voters information, regulate online loan agencies and ensure litigation free villages in the state. It also called for outdated laws to be repealed. The move comes in the wake of an alleged voter data theft case that rocked the state in 2022. Chilume Trust, the accused in the case, was allegedly enabled by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike officials to illegally collect voter data and store it in servers located abroad. According to the policy document, the legislations are among the 11 mulled by the Department of Law. Others include The Karnataka Administrative (Functioning) Bill, The Karnataka Administration of Justice Bill, The Karnataka Housing (Guarantee and Regulation) Bill, Bills to secure drinking water, and prescribing minimum procedure for quasi-judicial authorities, among others. Law and Parliamentary Affairs minister H K Patil said these laws were to ensure that "people are not at the mercy of the government" and provide better governance. Among the aspects highlighted in the policy was "measures to make departments follow laws and rules", which said that all actions taken by officials should have justification in law. "No officer is authorised to do anything not sanctioned by law. For such acts, the government will not be saddled with liability and the officer will be personally liable. An appropriate law is to be enacted to make the officials adhere to laws and provide for consequences that may follow in case of failure.. The public servants shall be accountable for wrong estimates, wrong information, deliberate negligence in discharge of duties, misleading the government and public, etc," the policy read. It proposed to make law "accessible, simple and understandable" and said that laws will be made available in Kannada language in the state. To strengthen the justice delivery system, the policy said that it would "provide effective free legal aid", while establishing new courts, upgrading and modernising judicial infrastructure, and appointing advocates as temporary judges to dispose of petty cases. Provision to conduct court sittings at prison premises and repealing laws that are against public interest, irrelevant and outdated, are among the measures proposed to improve the criminal justice system.
