LS clears Bill to repeal 71 Acts; 1,562 archaic laws revoked since 2014

Meghwal offered an example of why some laws had to be repealed. “There was one law that if there was a will by a Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain or Parsi in Kolkata, Madras and Mumbai, it would have to be probated,” he said, adding that other communities were exempt from it.

PRS Legislative Research notes that the “Statement of Objects and Reasons to the Bill notes that these Acts have ceased to be in force, are obsolete, or their retention as separate Acts is not necessary”. It says that 65 of these are Amendment Acts, whose changes have already been incorporated into the principal Acts.

“Other Acts being repealed include the Indian Tramways Act, 1886, the Levy Sugar Price Equalisation Fund Act, 1976, and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (Determination of Conditions of Service of Employees) Act, 1988.”

It adds, “The Bill also amends four Acts. It amends the General Clauses Act, 1897 and the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, to update terminologies for registered posts. The Indian Succession Act, 1925, is being amended to remove the requirement to obtain validation of wills by Courts in certain cases. The Bill also amends the Disaster Management Act, 2005, to rectify a drafting error.”

The BJP’s Manoj Tiwari supported the move, saying that outdated laws should be repealed.

Opposition parties questioned the Bill, saying some recently passed laws are being repealed.

“They are also repealing laws passed 24 months ago. What kind of drama is this?” Dean Kuriakose of the Congress asked. He said that, under the Disaster Management Act, the Bill sought to replace the word “prevention” with “preparation”.

“What is the relevance? Are we signalling that the state is giving up on prevention? The government is diluting prevention,” he said.

“This government passes bills in a bullet-train-type hurry. They changed the name of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Many of these laws were brought in between 2016 and 2023. The minister should explain why they are outdated today,” said Lalji Verma of the Samajwadi Party (SP).