If
you happen to unearth treasure worth even as little as Rs.10
rupees (16 US cents) in India, don’t even think of pocketing it - that’s
because under a law introduced by the former British colonial rulers, it still
belongs to “Her Majesty”. Now, however, the Treasure Trove Act of 1878 and
nearly 300 other outdated laws are set to be repealed in the largest-ever cull
of rules that make India one of the most puzzling places in the world to do
business.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hoping that less regulation and
faster decision-making will lift India from its ranking of 134 out of 189
countries on the World Bank’s ease of doing business table into the top 50 and
attract investors. “Some of the laws on our books are laughable. Others have no
place in a modern and democratic India,” said law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad
who is leading the legislative clean-up. Previous administrations have failed
to remove obscure laws dating back to the 19th century, either because of
objections by government departments or simply a lack of will. But Modi’s
officers have identified 287 obsolete laws for scrapping in a November session
of parliament. On the chopping block along with the Treasure Trove Act is an
1838 law that says property in an area of the former imperial capital of
Calcutta can only be sold to the East India Company, which laid the foundations
of the British empire but ceased to exist more than 150 years ago.
An 1855 measure removing a certain tribe from the purview of local
laws because it was an “uncivilised race” will also go. Even after all these
have been abolished, there will still be hundreds of clauses within other laws
and thousands of regulations that are real obstacles to business. “The
government has started identifying these anomalies too,” Prasad said.
Spittoons
out, scrawny inspectors back in
Flying kites or balloons without police permission is illegal
across India as they are classified as an “aircraft” under a 1934 act, and a
World War II decree outlaws the dropping of pamphlets from the air in the state
of Gujarat. Under the Motor Vehicles Act, the state of Andhra Pradesh enacted a
law that a motor inspector must have a clean set of teeth and anyone with a
“pigeon chest, knock knees, flat foot, hammer toes and fractured limbs” will be
disqualified. “There are instances where the entire statute is dysfunctional,”
said prominent economist Bibek Debroy, who advised Modi during his election
campaign and has written a book on the absurdities of Indian law. He said that
obscure laws can sometimes be abused.
A swanky New Delhi hotel was threatened with a lawsuit for
refusing to give water to a person who invoked an 1867 act under which a rest
house must offer passers-by free drinks of water. Factory owners have suffered
at the hands of government inspectors who insist on rules requiring spittoons
to be kept in the premises as well as earthen pots for drinking water. Even if
factories install modern fire extinguishers, they must still have red-painted
buckets with water and sand to put out a blaze. Some have a found a way around
absurd regulations.
A Post Office Act of 1898 stipulates that only the government has
the right of “conveying by post, from one place to another” most letters, so
courier companies get around this by calling the letters they send “documents”.
Live Mint, Oct 2014
8 comments:
sir ,i think that the steps taken by the modi government to repeal the obsolete law are worth appreciating because we know that a hasty constitution can never ever make a healthy contribution to the society everywhere in some or the other way people will be bound by the series of laws which will be against their wish ( taking the legal wishes).also what purposes these laws are serving today .nothing they are just increasing the piles of provisions ,acts .and it is an expected behaviour pattern that we discard things which are of no use ,so i totally believe this step of modi government, as justified.
Dear Srishti,
I am glad that you appreciate the need for reforms, changes and amendments to laws to suit social, economic and national needs. All laws that are against the wishes of people are bound to fail.
Imagine the change we can bring by legal reforms ... but due to political reasons are seldom understood and supported.
Warm Regards,
Arun
We are still following a colonial system in the skin of modernity and this is reflected by the age old laws that we are still following.So many laws are of no relevance in present time but sometimes people take advantage of them because they have been codified in the books.Apart from,laws several other practices such as use of lal batti(vip raj),vacassions in,judicial system,calling the judge as "mylord" are some of the example that shows how India is still living as the slave of british legal systm.I think before announcing in the world o invest in India the government and judiciary first needs to reform the system.
Indian society infact every society being dynamic has to do away with old legislation and as a changing society adopts new norms new customs so why not to do away with the old laws which are indeed a weight on constitution , this step to do away with obsolete laws is much anticipated from the govt as it was in it,s manifesto also. There must be some criteria for this process such as examining the old laws within every 5 years and scrapping those which were not playing their part for the betterment and well-being of society.
society and laws must work in a way that laws should develop with the developing society .
for example if we consider a computer system and a software , suppose someone buys a new computer system and installs a old software on it , here we can say that either the software will create some problem on the system and also will be of no use. same is with the laws and the society , if we will try to apply old laws on our new developing society then it will create some problems and also will be of no use . its worth plauding the step which our government has taken.
‘Law are rules which govern us’. Oh actually that was on lighter note , as when we talk contemporary the concept seems too vague to be . There is a need to repeal the laws according to the present need ,also they should be updated regularly and there should also be proximity among the law as in Indian Majority Act, 1875, a man can’t get married before he turns 21. But he can become a father at the age of 18. Seriously? Actually this law permits a man to adopt a child at the age of 18. So in this case the laws are themselves contradictory to each other. And now a days,even an individual can’t live without updating his facebook status , law after all is having a very large ambit. There should be regular checkups regarding the existing laws, and majorly all the obsolete laws should be removed as early as possible and this possibly could improve our rank in many index’s in which we are lagging.
Dear Sakshi, Utkarsh, Aviral & Aditya,
Knowledgeable inputs showing your sensitivity towards the whole issue.
Now, the next task is to identify the flawed laws and critique them in a logical and comprehensible manner. If you put your ideas in the form of an article, it would be valuable contribution. Send your articles to the six Journal that are their in the Institute.
Please disturb me abundantly. It will be a pleasure.
Warm Regards,
Arun
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