THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- December 21, 2017- Topic 1
Cleaning up: on reviewing laws in India
If law-making is a long and
tedious process, it appears that unmaking existing laws is an equally arduous
task. How else does one explain the fact that until three years ago, a huge
number of obsolete Acts remained in the law books despite losing their
relevance and utility? It has been only in the last three years that nearly
1,800 obsolete laws have been repealed. In the latest round, 235 outdated Acts
and nine pre-Independence Ordinances have been repealed.
These pieces of
legislation may have been relevant and necessary at the time they were
introduced, but in the absence of a periodic review they continue to burden the
statutory corpus. These laws are archaic mainly because the social, economic
and legal conditions that required their enactment does not obtain today; they
are also not in tune with the progress of democracy since Independence. Among
the Acts repealed are the Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act, 1911, the
Bengal Suppression of Terrorist Outrages (Supplementary) Act, 1932, and the
Preventive Detention Act, 1950. The country still has a body of ‘anti-terror’
legislation as well as preventive detention laws. Although such laws remain in
the statute books, these particular enactments are redundant. Other
questionable legal provisions, for example, those on ‘sedition’ or exciting
disaffection against the state, remain; so do ‘adultery’ and ‘sex against the
order of nature’. Such obsolete concepts and notions that underlie law-making
also require an overhaul.
In a 2014 interim report,
the first of four such reports on obsolete laws, the Law Commission noted that the panel had been identifying Acts for repeal
in many of its reports in the past. Its 96th and 148th Reports recommended a
good number of such laws. In 1998, the P.C. Jain Commission recommended the
withdrawal of a large body of legislation, and also noted that as many as 253
Acts identified earlier for withdrawal still remained on the statute book. Nine
ordinances issued by the Governor-General between 1941 and 1946, covering
subjects such as war injuries, war gratuities and collective fines, are being
removed from the statute book only now. It is odd, even amusing, that the
Howrah Offences Act, 1857, the Hackney-Carriage Act, 1879, and the Dramatic
Performances Act, 1876, have been in force well into the current century. The
problem with not removing archaic laws is that they could be invoked suddenly
against unsuspecting and otherwise law-abiding citizens. It is a welcome sign
for good governance that the present government is updating and trimming the
statute book. Given that legislation is quite a prolific activity, especially
in the State Assemblies, it would be advisable to have a permanent commission
to review the existing body of law and identify those that require repeal as
often as possible.
Vocabulary
Tedious: too long, slow, or
dull.
Example: A tedious journey
Synonyms: boring, dull, monotonous, repetitive, unrelieved, unvaried
Arduous: involving or requiring
strenuous effort.
Example: An arduous journey
Synonyms: onerous, taxing, difficult, hard, heavy, laborious, burdensome
Obsolete: no longer produced or
used; out of date.
Example: The disposal of old and
obsolete machinery
Synonyms: outdated, out of
date, outmoded, old-fashioned, démodé, passé
Relevance: the quality or state
of being closely connected or appropriate.
Example: This film has contemporary
relevance
Repeal: revoke or annul a law
or congressional act.
Example: The legislation was repealed
five months later
Synonyms: revoke, rescind, cancel, reverse, annul, nullify, declare
null and void
Corpus: the main body or mass
of a structure.
Example: The right fallopian tube,
right ovary, uterine corpus , and uterine cervix were all grossly unremarkable.
Archaic: very old or
old-fashioned.
Example: Prisons are run on archaic
methods
Synonyms: obsolete, out of
date, old-fashioned, outmoded, behind the times
Redundant: not or no longer
needed or useful.
Example: This redundant brewery has
been converted into a library
Synonyms: unnecessary, not
required, inessential, unessential, needless
Gratuity: a tip given to a
waiter, taxicab driver, etc..
Example: A special gratuity
paid to a driver, for example at Christmas, may not be taxable.
Synonyms: tip, gift, present, donation, reward, handout, bonus, extra, baksheesh
Archaic: very old or
old-fashioned.
Example: Prisons are run on archaic
methods
Synonyms: obsolete, out of
date, old-fashioned, outmoded, behind the times
Advisable: to be recommended;
sensible.
Example: It is advisable to carry one
of the major credit cards
Synonyms: judicious, desirable, preferable, well, best, sensible, prudent, proper
