New Delhi: An archaic law dating back to the 1850s which facilitated remunerating the sheriffs of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay for executing court orders and another which sought to prevent dissemination of publications “harmful” to young persons, are among the 105 redundant Acts that are likely to be repealed in the coming days.
According to the draft Repealing and Amending Bill, 2017, cleared by the Union Cabinet last week, laws which amended the Unlawful Activities (Pre-vention) Act and the ones dealing with salaries and pensions of the President and the vice-president will also be repealed.
The government plans to scrap 105 redundant laws which have been clogging the statute books. The 105 laws which wo-uld be repealed once the bill is passed by Parlia-ment, include 2008 amen-dments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, The President’s Em-oluments and Pension Act, the Vice-President’s Pension Act, The Sheriffs’ Fees Act, 1852 and The Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act, 1956.
The Ganges Tolls Act, 1867, which provided for collecting toll “not exceeding 12 annas” on certain boats and steamers plying on river Ganga to improve navigation of the river between Allahabad (UP) and Dinapore (Bihar) is also in the list of laws which are to be repealed. In 1993, the Law Commission had recommended its repeal. A two-member committee had identified 1824 redundant and obsolete Central Acts for repeal.
Four acts have so far been enacted to repeal 1175 Central Acts between May, 2014 and August, 2016 by Parliament. Of the 1824 Acts, 227 including Appropriation Acts enacted by Parliament for the states under President’s Rule have been identified for repeal by the respective state governments. Various ministries have also “disagreed” to the repealing of about 139 Acts due to various reasons.
