OPENING someone else’s letters, selling more tea than is allowed in a single transaction or spitting on a post office letter box – that’ all it would have taken to put you behind bars, until now.
The Jan Vishwas Bill, passed by Parliament in the monsoon session, has changed all that and done much more. It has decriminalised several offences, including minor ones that currently invite jail terms.
By converting or ‘compounding’ prison sentences into fines and penalties about 180 minor offences across 42 central laws, the bill does not encourage breaking the laws. It merely stops its misuse for harassment, reduces unnecessary workload on courts and enables businesses to breathe freely.
Ending harassment
Speaking on the Bill, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said it would end harassment of small traders and businesses which were entangled in the web of varied legislations for very minor offences.
Besides seeking decriminalisation of minor offences, the Bill also aims for rationalisation of monetary penalties, depending on the gravity of the offence.
The legislation is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to bolster trust-based governance. His government has over recent years been making efforts to improve the ease-of-doingbusiness ranking of the country, where myriads of issues, including red-tapism and bureaucracy have often been blamed to block potential corporate investments.
Over the last nine years, as many as 40,000 provisions and procedures which had the possibility of creating problems for people were either simplified or removed by the Narendra Modi Government, Goyal told Parliament.
Panel recommendations
The Bill was initially introduced in the winter session last year, when it was referred to a joint committee of Parliament. The committee suggested seven general recommendations, out of which six were accepted by the concerned ministries.
With the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023, all offences under the Post Office Act 1898 are being removed. It proposes to amend provisions of Acts administered by 19 ministries, including the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the Pharmacy Act, 1948.
The Government also sought to amend the Public Debt Act, 1944; Cinematograph Act, 1952; Copyright Act, 1957; Patents Act, 1970; Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; and Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
Meanwhile, other important Acts being amended include Trade Marks Act, 1999; Railways Act, 1989; Information Technology Act, 2000; Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002; Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006; Legal Metrology Act, 2009; and Factoring Regulation Act, 2011.
Offence and punishment
With the latest Amendment Bill, the Government claims to establish a balance between severity of the offence or violation committed and the gravity of the prescribed punishment.
While it appears to many that the Bill provides excessive freedom to persons or entities in terms of adherence to law, the Government has ensured no loss of rigor of the law.
As an official spokesman pointed out after the Union Cabinet cleared the final draft of the Bill before the monsoon session, the common objective was to save time and cost, for both the Government and business alike.
