Cabinet okays scrapping of 105 redundant laws

Cabinet okays scrapping of 105 redundant laws NEW DELHI: Though the British left India 69 years ago, the laws made by the foreign ruler, which include levying of tolls for crossing the river Ganges and marriage validation for couples getting married through various traditional norms, continue to exist in the statue book. The Union Cabinet,  in its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on

Wednesday, gave its nod to a Law Ministry proposal to bring the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2017 to scrap 105 redundant laws which have been clogging the statute books. The Ganges Toll Act, 1867 continues to exist in the statue book, which mandates that people crossing the river through any mode have to pay to the local bodies, with sources in the Ministry of Law saying that it had become obsolete long back.

The Married Women Properties Extension Act, 1874, had given the women the right to “streedhan” on jewellery given to them by their fathers, husbands and other relatives. This law was applicable only to areas which were under the British rule at that time, but in 1959 it was further amended to make it applicable across the country barring Jammu and Kashmir by adding the right over life insurance policies also. “With the comprehensive law passed by Parliament now in force which gives equal right to women in self acquired and joint family properties, the 1959 law had become obsolete,” sources said.

Fresh from Independence, India had also promulgated “Young Person (Harmful Publication) Act, 1956 with an intention to take action against publication of materials in print which could have incited the youth to violence and other corrupt practices, besides “stimulating the young minds in wrong ways”, sources said, while adding that this law has become redundant as Indian Penal Code (IPC) takes care of such activities now.

The Marriage Validation Act, 1892, too continues to exist in the statue book, which mandated the government to validate marriages conducted in traditional norms, which included “Gandharv and Saptapathy marriages”. “Since there is a Hindu Marriage Act, besides personal laws of the minority communities, it had become obsolete,” sources stated. The laws to be scrapped include “Cine Workers Welfare Cess Act 1981”, “Public Services (Enquiries) Act 1850”, “Sherrif’s Fees Act, 1852”, “The Converse Marriage Dissolution Act, 1866”, “The Church of Scotland Act, 1921” among others.