The Law Commission of India has recommended the repeal of 30 more laws in its fourth report under the banner of ‘The Legal Enactments: Simplification and Streamlining’, submitted to the law ministry on 14 November. The commission analysed 54 laws and chose 30 for repeal in its fourth report. Two of these laws are the Disputed Elections (Prime Minister and Speaker) Act, 1977, and Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983. The former, passed during the Emergency, mandated that the regular procedure for disputing an election would not apply “where the elected representative went on to become the prime minister or speaker of the Lok Sabha”. The latter seeks to throw out those suspected of being illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. On earlier occasions, the Law Commission, by way of three interim reports, one each on 12 September, 13 October and 29 October, had suggested repeal of 258 laws that have been considered “obsolete”. Some of the laws have been recommended for repeal as their purposes have been subsumed under subsequent legislations, like those related to drugs and sugar, which are now covered under the Essential Commodities Act. Eighteen of the 30 laws had been passed to nationalize enterprises. This report also is the first being submitted to new law minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda. The committee, headed by former chief justice of the Delhi high court A.P. Shah, along with former judge S.N. Kapoor, Mool Chand Sharma, Yogesh Tyagi from the Law Commission and Arghya Sengupta and Srijoni Sen from Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, has published four reports in a span of nearly two months (from 12 September to 14 November). A list of the 30 laws is given below: 1. Weekly Holidays Act, 1942 2. Imperial Library (Change of Name) Act, 1948 3. Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948 4. Drugs (Control) Act, 1950 5. Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1950 6. Prize Competitions Act, 1955 7. Public Wakfs (Extension of Limitation) Act, 1959 8. Sugar (Regulation of Production) Act, 1961 9. Indian Copper Corporation (Acquisition of Undertaking) Act, 1972 10. Richardson and Cruddas Limited (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1972 11. Esso (Acquisition of Undertakings in India) Act, 1974 12. Indian Iron and Steel Company (Acquisition of Shares) Act, 1976 13. Burmah Shell (Acquisition of Undertakings in India) Act, 1976 14. Braithwaite and Company (India) Limited (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1976 15. Burn Company and Indian Standard Wagon Company (Nationalisation) Act, 1976 16. Departmentalisation of Union Accounts (Transfer of Personnel) Act, 1976 17. Smith, Stanistreet and Company Limited (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1977 18. Caltex [Acquisition of Shares of Caltex Oil Refining (India) Limited and of the Undertakings in India of Caltex (India) Limited] Act, 1977 19. Disputed Elections (Prime Minister and Speaker) Act, 1977 20. Britannia Engineering Company Limited (Mokameh Unit) and the Arthur Butler and Company (Muzaffarpore) Limited (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1978 21. Kosan Gas Company (Acquisition of Undertaking) Act, 1979 22. Hindustan Tractors Limited (Acquisition Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1978 23. Jute Companies (Nationalisation) Act, 1980 24. Amritsar Oil Works (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1982 25. Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 26. Chandigarh Disturbed Areas Act, 1983 27. Incheck Tyres Limited and National Rubber Manufacturers Limited (Nationalization) Act, 1984 28. Hooghly Docking and Engineering Company Limited (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1984 29. Futwah Islampur Light Railway Line (Nationalization) Act, 1985 30. Swadeshi Cotton Mills Company Limited (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1986
