The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the 2025 Repealing and Amending Bill, which seeks to repeal 71 laws that the government says had become obsolete.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that the legislation is aimed at scrapping outdated laws and correcting errors that had crept in during the law-making process, and removing discriminatory aspects of some Acts, The Hindu reported.
The changes seek to reverse the effects of colonisation, the minister said, adding that the legislation would contribute to the ease of living for citizens.
The minister noted that one outdated legislation was the 1925 Indian Succession Act, which says that a will prepared by a Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain or Parsi must be probated, or have its validity established in court.
The provision did not apply to other communities, he added.
The legislation seeks to amend the Indian Succession Act to remove the requirement to obtain a validation of a will in court in some cases, the newspaper reported.
The Acts that the Repealing and Amending Bill seeks to remove include the 1886 Indian Tramways Act, the 1976 Levy Sugar Price Equalisation Fund Act and the 1988 Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Determination of Conditions of Service of Employees Act, The Hindu reported.
It seeks to amend the 1897 General Clauses Act and the 1908 Code of Civil Procedure to update terminologies for registered posts.
Additionally, the legislation will also amend the 2005 Disaster Management Act to rectify a drafting error.
Meghwal added that while 1,562 outdated Acts had been repealed since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, 15 had been amended, The Indian Express reported.
Opposition questions Centre
Questioning the bill, Opposition parties said that even some laws passed recently were being repealed, The Indian Express reported.
Congress MP Dean Kuriakose said that some laws passed in the past two years were also being repealed. “What kind of drama is this?” the newspaper quoted Kuriakose as asking.
Under the Disaster Management Act, the bill sought to replace the word “prevention” with “preparation”, he added.
“What is the relevance?” the MP representing Kerala’s Idukki constituency asked. “Are we signalling that the state is giving up on prevention? The government is diluting prevention.”
Samajwadi Party MP Lalji Verma said that the Union government passes bills in a “bullet-train-type hurry”, The Indian Express reported.
“They changed the name of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,” he added. “Many of these laws were brought in between 2016 and 2023. The minister should explain why they are outdated today.”
The Union government is expected to introduce the 2025 Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill to replace the 2005 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
The bill proposes to increase the number of guaranteed working days per year under the Act to 125 from 100 and to raise the states’ share of the costs to 40%. It also proposes that only the Union government should be allowed to notify rural areas in a state where the scheme will be implemented.
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