May 5, 2015
Nadimul Haque speaks on The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2014 | Full Transcript
Full Transcript
Sir I rise to speak on the Repealing and Amending Act of 2015. Since 1950 , this is one of the periodical measures by which enactments which have ceased to be enforced or have become obsolete or the retention whereof a separate and independent Act is unnecessary. Then such enactments are repealed or as the case may be, it is used to repel any formal defects in any enactment which comes to the notice during its administration.
Sir, while giving a written answer to my question on April 24, 2015, in this House, the minister had stated there were a huge number of obsolete laws which are of no use in current scenarios. According to a two-member committee formed by the PMO there is need to repeal about 637 laws as soon as possible. Obviously this is a worrisome situation that requires urgent and proper attention of the Government.
Regarding this Bill Sir, I have a few suggestions. As it is clear by the name of this Bill the Amending and Repealing work has been clubbed together. Many times it can cause ambiguity so in my view there should be separation of amending and repealing in all such bills Sir.
Also Sir, it is seen that most Bills to be repealed are mainly Appropriation Acts. Since these acts are used for temporary use –in most cases one year- why are we making so much effort to repeal such Acts? There should be Automatic Repeal Clause in such Acts which are replaced or repealed by the same Acts. The Legal Department has cited that due to Section 6A of the General Clauses Act 1897, there is hindrance in the way of Automatic Repeal Clause at the drafting stage of any Bill. So, I request the Government of India to make amendments in the said section of the General Clauses Act 1897.
Sir, we shouldn’t continue with British procedures which are causing administrative delays and making our task cumbersome.
My last suggestion Sir in this is regarding the face that there is no uniformity in repealing the obsolete laws. The Select Committee on this Bill has made the same observation regarding this Sir. The last repealing Bill was passed in the year 2001 and the next such bill has come to the House in 2015. There is a gap of nearly 15 years. I request the minister to make provisions for some fixed time interval for repealing of such obsolete laws so that unnecessary burdens can be removed from the government books.
Sir, at the effect of such Repealing and Amending Acts is only to remove dead matter from the Statute books and it has no legislative effect, on behalf of my Party, the All India Trinamool Congress, I support the Bill. Thank you.
