Law Commission identifies another 103 obsolete laws; Submits interim reports to new Law Min. DV Sadananda Gowda

The Law Commission of India recently published its 250th and 251st reports, calling for the immediate repeal of 103 more laws. In the previous two reports, the Commission chaired by Justice A.P. Shah, had identified 148 obsolete laws which warranted immediate repeal. The 251st report, published on November 14th also marks the first communication between the Commission and the new Law Ministry headed by DV Sadananda Gowda..The Commission has now recommended repeal of a total of 288 archaic laws till date through four of its interim reports. The following are a few of the statutes that have been recognized for repeal in the two most recent reports..Disputed Elections (Prime Minister and Speaker) Act, 1977.This law provided that the general procedure for disputing an election by presenting an election petition to the High Court, would not apply where the elected representative went on to become the Prime Minister or Speaker of the Lok Sabha. In such cases, this Act would apply, and election petitions questioning their elections would be heard by a single Judge of the Supreme Court, set up as a separate Authority under this Act. The decisions of the Authority were final. Article 329A was inserted into the Constitution which allowed this distinction to be made, but was subsequently removed through the 44th Amendment to the Constitution in 1978. Without Article 329A, this law becomes unconstitutional..Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1950.This Act regulated the possession of telegraph wires and provides for the punishment of the offence of unlawful possession of telegraph wires. Telegraph services were permanently shut down in India in 2013, rendering the Act redundant..Local Authorities Pensions and Gratuities Act, 1919.The Act empowered local authorities to grant a pension or gratuity to any officer or his dependants who may, since 4th August 1914, have suffered injuries while in service under the government. Most States now have their own Pension Rules and the purpose of this Act is subsumed by such rules..Hindu Inheritance (Removal of Disabilities) Act, 1928 .The Act provided that no person governed by Hindu law would be excluded from any right or share in joint family property by reason only of any disease, deformity, or physical or mental defect. However, the Act excluded a person who had been from birth a lunatic or an idiot. The purpose of the Act has now been subsumed by Section 28 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1938.This Act was enacted to punish persons who made public speeches to dissuade persons from enlisting in the Defence Forces and from taking part in any war in which the British Empire would be engaged. This Act was meant to serve the needs of the British Empire and is now redundant..Khaddar (Protection of Name) Act, 1950.The Act mandated that the words ‘khaddar’ and ‘khadi’, whether in Hindi, English, or in any other language, when applied to any woven material, shall be deemed to be a “trade description” within the meaning of the Indian Merchandise Act, 1889. This was done to indicate that such material is cloth woven on handlooms in India from cotton, silk or woollen yarn or from a mixture of any two or all of such yarns. The Indian Merchandise Act, 1889 has been repealed but a corresponding amendment has not been made in this Act. In fact, ‘khadi’ was registered as a mark registered under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and the Khadi Mark Regulations, 2013 were issued for the purpose of authentication of genuine khadi..Additional Emoluments (Compulsory Deposits) Act, Act 37 of 1974.The Act provided for the compulsory deposit of additional emoluments and for the framing of a scheme in relation thereto. The reason furnished by the Department of Economic Affairs for proposing repeal of this Act was that in future any occasion or necessity for such compulsory deposits will not arise. Hence, the Department proposed repeal of this Act while making provision for disposal of the amounts already in deposit under the respective enactments.