Jan Vishwas Bill for Decriminalise 717 Offences

The Bill, introduced by minister of state for commerce and industry Jitin Prasada, seeks to amend 79 Central Acts administered by 23 ministries. Of the 784 provisions proposed to be amended, 717 relate to decriminalisation of minor offences and 67 are aimed at improving ease of living.

Congress members K. Kavya and G.K. Padavi opposed the introduction, alleging that replacing imprisonment with fines would affect the basic structure of the Constitution. Padavi urged that the Bill be referred again to a select or joint parliamentary committee. “This is an administrative oversight. The Bill is arbitrary and encourages corruption, and it should be reexamined,” he said.

Om Birla sought clarification on whether a Bill could be resubmitted to a parliamentary panel. Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said there is no provision or precedent for sending a Bill back to a committee after its report has been submitted.

Responding to the objections, Prasada said only procedural and minor offences are proposed to be replaced with fines. “Major violations and serious offences have not been diluted in any manner,” he said.

He said the proposed changes exclude areas such as national security, labour courts, armed forces and international obligations. “These are not under this purview. So, these are all minor offences that have been done away with,” he said.

He added that consultations had been held on the provisions and that the Bill aims to improve ease of doing business and living by revising penalties and providing for appellate mechanisms.

“It proposes to amend 79 Central acts, administered by 23 ministries, or a total of 784 provisions, which are being proposed to be amended, out of which 717 provisions are being decriminalised to foster ease of doing business and 67 provisions are being proposed to facilitate ease of living,” he said.