Law Commission recommended repeal of 73 more obsolete statutes

The Law Commission headed by Justice (retd) A P Shah on 3 November 2014 recommended repeal of 73 more obsolete statutes. With this, the total number of such laws increased to 258.

Law commission submitted its third interim report to the Union Law Ministry.  The panel recommended repeal of 258 laws which are clogging the statute books as they have lost their relevance.

It included the one which prescribed punishment for those who dissuaded people from taking part in wars in which the British Empire was engaged. One of the Acts recommended for repeal is the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1938 enacted just before the beginning of World War II.

Earlier, Law Commission submitted its first interim report in September 2014. Commission had recommended repeal of 72 old Acts.

In its second report submitted in October 2014, the panel had suggested that repealing of another 113 laws, including 11 World War II era ordinances.

The recommendation of the Law Commission is part of its ongoing exercise to help the government weed out unwanted statutes.

The Union Law Ministry had mandated the Law Commission to recommend laws that can be repealed. This is the first time since 2001 that such an exercise is being undertaken by the Law Ministry.

Steps taken by the Union Government to weed out obsolete laws
In August 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi constituted a separate committee to identify obsolete laws which hamper governance by creating avoidable confusion.

This committee will examine all Acts recommended for repeal by the Committee on Review of Administrative Laws which was appointed by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998. Out of the 1382 Acts recommended by Vajpayee government appointed committee for repeal, only 415 have been repealed so far.

In the Budget Session of Lok Sabha in July 2014, Union Government had introduced Repealing and Amending Bill, 2014 to repeal 32 acts.

The Bill seeks to remove certain Amendment Acts and Principal Acts from the statute books as they have outlived their utility.

The Amendment Acts which are sought to be repealed through the Bill include amendments to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, Special Marriage Act, 1954, Indian Divorce Act, 1869 and Anand Marriage Act, 1909 and Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

India-Republic of Korea Joint Commission Meeting was held

The 7th India-Republic of Korea Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) was held in New Delhi on 8 November 2013. The Indian side was led by External Affairs Minister, Salman Khurshid, while the Republic of Korea (ROK) side was led by Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se. The two nations did a comprehensive review of bilateral relations, which were upgraded to a Strategic Partnership and acquired range and depth over the past few years. Noting that high level political exchanges had imparted momentum to the relationship, India and South Korea discussed the possibility of a visit to India by ROK President Madame Park Geun-hye in early 2014. The JCM discussed ways to add strategic and economic content to bilateral ties including in the political, security, trade, investment, consular, scientific and cultural spheres. Regional and international issues of mutual interest were also discussed. The 8th India-ROK Joint Commission Meeting at a mutually convenient time will be held in Seoul in 2014. 

National Commission for Senior Citizens

The HelpAge India conducted a research in 20 cities in India in 2012 on elders abuse and the studies explored the nature and extent of abuse, main perpetrators of abuse, awareness on measures to prevent abuse etc. As per the findings of the study, it has, inter-alia, been reported that the police helplines and services are known to majority of respondents but were never used due to lack of trust or to maintain family honour. 

The Planning Commission has approved the proposal of the "Working Group on Social Welfare to formulate the XII Five Year Plan" to establish a National Commission for Senior Citizens. Accordingly, the Ministry has constituted an Expert Committee to formulate a new Scheme. 

Tax Administration Reform Commission

The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for setting up of the Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC). 

The Commission will consist of a Chairman, two full time members and four part-time members, of which at least two part-time members will be from the private sector. The Chairman will be an eminent person having wide experience of tax administration and policy making. Full-time members of the Commission will be one member each with a background in revenue service pertaining to Income Tax and Central Excise and Customs respectively. The term of the Commission will be 18 months. 

The Commission will review the application of tax policies and tax laws in India in the context of global best practices and recommend measures to strengthen the capacity of the tax system in India that would reflect best global practices. The Commission will help in removing ambiguity in application of tax policy and tax laws, thereby establishing a stable tax regime and a non-adversarial tax administration. The Commission will facilitate an efficient tax administrative system that would enhance the tax base as well as tax payer base. 

Background : 

In his Budget Speech 2013-14 in Parliament on 28.02.2013, the Finance Minister had announced :- 

"An emerging economy must have a tax system that reflects best global practices. I propose to set up a Tax Administration Reform Commission to review the application of tax policies and tax laws and submit periodic reports that can be implemented to strengthen the capacity of our tax system." 

Members Appointed to the 20th Law Commission of India

The Central Government has appointed (i) Dr. Bijai Narain Mani, eminent law author, and (ii) Dr. Gurjeet Singh, Director General of the National Law School & Judicial Academy, Assam, as part-time Members of the 20th Law Commission of India with effect from the forenoon of the 24th May and the 31st May 2013, respectively, and up to 31st August 2015 i.e. till the end of the term of the 20th Law Commission of India. 

As per the 3 Notifications issued today by the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice, the Central Government has also appointed Ms. Justice Usha Mehra, retired Judge of the High Court of Delhi, as full-time Member of the 20th Law Commission of India with effect from the forenoon of the 3rd April 2013 and up to 31st August 2015. 

Competition Commission of India amended the Combination Regulations

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) amended the Combination Regulations with a view to further simplify the filing requirements and bring about greater certainty in the application of the Act and the Regulations. The provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 relating to regulation of combinations have been in force with effect from 1 June 2011.

These were subsequently amended on 23 February 2013 with a view to relax certain requirements in regard to filings by corporate entities for combinations that are unlikely to raise adverse competition concerns. 

The highlights of the major changes in the Combination Regulations are as following: 
• The Regulations now do not require a notice to be filed for acquisition of shares or voting rights of companies if the acquisition is less than five percent of the shares or voting rights of the company in a financial year, where the acquirer already holds more than twenty five percent but less than fifty percent of the shares or voting rights of the company.
• In a step which would significantly reduce compliance requirements, the provision for giving notice is now dispensed for mergers/amalgamations involving two enterprises where one of the enterprises has more than fifty per cent (50%) shares or voting rights of the other enterprise. Similarly, the requirement of giving notice is also dispensed for merger or amalgamation of enterprises in which more than fifty per cent (50%) shares or voting rights in each of such enterprises are held by enterprise(s) within the same group. 
• To provide clarification on the nature of intra-group acquisitions for which notice has to be given, Item 8 of Schedule I is amended to state that the relaxation would not apply where the acquired enterprise is jointly controlled.
• To avoid repetition and to have one category of exemption for acquisition of certain current assets like stock-in-trade, raw materials etc., Item 5 and Item 9 of Schedule I are clubbed and provided as one category under Item 5.

Commission on Railway Safety

The working of Commissioner of Railway Safety is governed by the Railways Act, 1989. There is no proposal of amendment with regard to segregating the role of regulator, operator and investigator at present. 

There is no lack of coordination between the Commission of Railway Safety and the Railways. The Commission of Railway Safety functions under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and interacts with the Ministry of Railways frequently as and when needed. The Ministry of Railways and the Commission of Railway Safety under the Ministry of Civil Aviation are government bodies functioning in the public interest and carrying out their respective duties as defined in the Railways Act. Commissioners of Railway Safety are completely independent and exercise their independent and free judgment while discharging their duties under the Act. Ministry of Railways provides all the support in terms of infrastructure/logistics as and when required by the Commission. 

Fourteenth Finance Commission Constituted

As mandated by the Article 280 of the Constitution, the Government has constituted the Fourteenth Finance Commission consisting of Dr. Y.V.Reddy, former Governor Reserve Bank of India, as the Chairman and the following four other members, namely: -

1.	Prof Abhijit Sen Member, Planning Commission	Member (Part Time)
2.	Ms. Sushma Nath Former Union Finance Secretary	Member
3.	Dr. M.Govinda Rao Director, National Institute for Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi	Member
4.	Dr. Sudipto Mundle Former Acting Chairman, National Statistical Commission	Member

            Shri Ajay Narayan Jha shall be the Secretary to the Commission. The Commission shall make its report available by the 31^st October, 2014, covering a period of five years commencing on the 1st April, 2015.

            The Commission shall make recommendations regarding the sharing of Union taxes, principles governing Grants-in-aid to States and transfer of resources to local bodies.

            Terms of Reference and the matters that shall be taken into consideration by the Fourteenth Finance Commission in making the recommendations are as under :

1.      (i) the distribution between the Union and the States of the net proceeds of taxes which are to be, or may be, divided between them under Chapter I, Part XII of the Constitution and the allocation between the States of the respective shares of such proceeds;

(ii) the principles which should govern the grants-in-aid of the revenues of the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India and the sums to be paid to the States which are in need of assistance by way of grants-in-aid of their revenues under article 275 of the Constitution for purposes other than those specified in the provisos to clause (1) of that article; and

(iii) the measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the Panchayats and Municipalities in the State on the basis of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the State.

2.                  The Commission shall review the state of the finances, deficit and debt levels of the Union and the States, keeping in view, in particular, the fiscal consolidation roadmap recommended by the Thirteenth Finance Commission, and suggest measures for maintaining a stable and sustainable fiscal environment consistent with equitable growth including suggestions to amend the Fiscal Responsibility Budget Management Acts currently in force and while doing so, the Commission may consider the effect of the receipts and expenditure in the form of grants for creation of capital assets on the deficits; and the Commission shall also consider and recommend incentives and disincentives for States for observing the obligations laid down in the Fiscal Responsibility Budget Management Acts.

3.                  In making its recommendations, the Commission shall have regard, among other considerations, to –

(i)                 the resources of the Central Government, for five years commencing on 1st April 2015, on the basis of levels of taxation and non-tax revenues likely to be reached during 2014-15;

(ii)               the demands on the resources of the Central Government, in particular, on account of the expenditure on civil administration, defence, internal and border security, debt-servicing and other committed expenditure and liabilities;

(iii)             the resources of the State Governments and the demands on such resources under different heads, including the impact of debt levels on resource availability in debt stressed states, for the five years commencing on 1st April 2015, on the basis of levels of taxation and non-tax revenues likely to be reached during 2014-15;

(iv)             the objective of not only balancing the receipts and expenditure on revenue account of all the States and the Union, but also generating surpluses for capital investment;

(v)            the taxation efforts of the Central Government and each State Government and the potential for additional resource mobilisation to improve the tax-Gross Domestic Product ratio in the case of the Union and tax-Gross State Domestic Product ratio in the case of the States;

(vi)          the level of subsidies that are required, having regard to the need for sustainable and inclusive growth, and equitable sharing of subsidies between the Central Government and State Governments;

(vii)        the expenditure on the non-salary component of maintenance and upkeep of capital assets and the non-wage related maintenance expenditure on plan schemes to be completed by 31st March, 2015 and the norms on the basis of which specific amounts are recommended for the maintenance of the capital assets and the manner of monitoring such expenditure;

(viii)      the need for insulating the pricing of public utility services like drinking water, irrigation, power and public transport from policy fluctuations through statutory provisions;

(ix) the need for making the public sector enterprises competitive and market oriented; listing and disinvestment; and relinquishing of non-priority enterprises;

(x)   the need to balance management of ecology, environment and climate change consistent with sustainable economic development; and

(xi) the impact of the proposed Goods and Services Tax on the finances of Centre and States and the mechanism for compensation in case of any revenue loss.

4.                  In making its recommendations on various matters, the Commission shall generally take the base of population figures as of 1971 in all cases where population is a factor for determination of devolution of taxes and duties and grants-in-aid; however, the Commission may also take into account the demographic changes that have taken place subsequent to 1971.

5.                  The Commission may review the present Public Expenditure Management systems in place including the budgeting and accounting standards and practices; the existing system of classification of receipts and expenditure; linking outlays to outputs and outcomes; best practices within the country and internationally, and make appropriate recommendations thereon.

6.                  The Commission may review the present arrangements as regards financing of Disaster Management with reference to the funds constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005(53 of 2005), and make appropriate recommendations thereon.

7.                  The Commission shall indicate the basis on which it has arrived at its findings and make available the State-wise estimates of receipts and expenditure.

8.                  The Commission shall make its report available by the 31^st October, 2014, covering a period of five years commencing on the 1st April, 2015.

Union Government of India Constituted a Commission to suggest measures for Safety of Women

Former Chief Justice J.S. Verma will head a three-member Commission of Inquiry that will suggest ways for improving safety and security of women, besides looking into the gang-rape incident.

Justice Lalita Seth and former Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam will be its two other members.

“The Commission will suggest ways to make stricter rape laws. It will submit its report within 30 days,” Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said.

The Delhi Police have roped in senior High Court lawyer Dyan Krishnan as Special Prosecutor to ensure speedy trial.

National Judicial Commission

The proposal for setting up of National Judicial Commission has been on the anvil since 1990. But despite the recommendations of various Commissions including the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission, the proposal has not reached a logical conclusion. The Constitution (Amendment) Bills moved in 1990 as well as 2003 lapsed on both the occasions due to dissolution of the House. Giving this information in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today, Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister of Law & Justice said that currently, appointment of Judges to High Courts and Supreme Court is based on Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts prepared in 1998. He said that representations have been made by various agencies and expert bodies to review/ change the present procedure of appointment of judges. It is generally felt that this Procedure is not balanced and is one sided. It has at times been criticised also for lack of transparency and accountability. But there is no proposal made to change the existing system yet.