Centre to remove 71 obsolete laws in Monsoon Session: Rijiju

New Delhi: Emphasising on reducing the burden on the judiciary, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday said the Centre has identified 1,824 obsolete laws and in the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Parliament and it will deliberate to remove 71 such laws.

Speaking at the 18th All India Legal Services Meet here, Rijiju said, “It is a matter of concern that today there are about 5 crore cases pending in courts across the country. To reduce these cases, government and judiciary need to work in coordination.” “We should reduce the compliances which are working as a burden on the lives of common people. Till now, we have removed 1,486 obsolete laws and provisions. We have also identified 1,824 such laws. In the upcoming parliamentary season, I am committed to removing 71 such acts,” he added.

The Law Minister emphasized that justice should not be limited to the privileged and accessible to the common man.

“Today, there are many lawyers in the Supreme Court who charge Rs 10-15 lakh per hearing. How can a common man afford it? The court should not be only for the privileged. I believe the doors of justice should be open to all,” said Rijiju.

The central government will seek to push several legislations during the monsoon session of parliament beginning July 18 and its legislative agenda includes 24 bills for passage, sources said.

The first day of the monsoon session will see voting for the presidential election.

Some of the bills that are in the pending list include The Indian Antarctica Bill, 2022. The bill is pending in the Lok Sabha.

The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019, was passed by Lok Sabha and in the upcoming session, it is likely to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha.

The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022 was passed by Lok Sabha and is yet to be passed by Rajya Sabha.

The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 is pending in Lok Sabha, The Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019 and The National Anti-Doping Bill, 2021 are also pending in Lok Sabha.

The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 (in respect of State of UP – amendment regarding change of district name to be approved by Cabinet) was introduced in Lok Sabha in March 2022.

The new bills to be newly introduced in the Parliament during the Monsoon session include The Central Universities Amendment Bill, 2022.

The Family Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2022 is also a new bill and was sent for printing on Thursday.

The other bills on the government agenda include Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2019, (in respect of State of Assam), The Mediation Bill, 2021 (with Standing Committee chaired by Shri Sushil Kumar Modi); The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (report of Standing Committee under examination) and the Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian Bill, 2019 (report of Standing Committee under examination).

The other bills are Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2019 (report of Standing Committee under examination), the Pesticide Management Bill, 2020 (report of Standing Committee under examination).

The first Batch of Supplementary Demand for Grants (General) and connected Appropriation Bill will also be presented in the upcoming session.

The panel which scrutinised the biodiversity Bill is in the process of submitting its report in the upcoming session. This committee was chaired by BJP member Dr Sanjay Jaiswal.
The upcoming monsoon session of Parliament will have a total of 17 working days and will conclude on August 12.