Govt to form commission to phase out obsolete laws: Min

Bhubaneswar: State govt is planning to form a law revision commission soon to recommend changes in outdated laws, law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said here on Wednesday.

“The commission will give a roadmap to make required changes into irrelevant and unnecessary Acts and Rules,” Harichandan told media persons. The commission is likely to be formed in the next one to two months.

Though Harichandan did not elaborate on laws that the govt wants to phase out, sources said the govt plans to revisit many laws governing land. The Narendra Modi-led Union govt had scrapped more than 1200 redundant Acts in 2016-17.

Harichandan said the govt will also review cases against Right to Information (RTI) activists. “We will figure out if cases were lodged against them to intimidate them or put undue pressure on them. Steps will be taken so that they function freely and fairly,” he said.

The minister said the govt will also examine possibilities to make suitable changes in the rules governing RTI Act to make it more people-friendly.

Senior BJD leader and former minister Amar Prasad Satpathy welcomed the move with a rider that the govt should undertake the move sincerely. “From 2014 to 2019, the matter of abrogating redundant laws and amend certain Acts to make it relevant with changing times have been discussed in the assembly several times. I welcome the move. It should be done in right earnest. Archaic laws must go,” Satpathy said.

Congress legislature party leader Ramachandra Kadam said before forming any such commission the govt should hold an all-party meeting and hold meeting with civil society members to clarify its intention. “While any move for development of the state and its people is welcome, it should not be a pretext to push the party agenda,” Kadam said.

The Congress leader said in past some months, the BJP govt has largely indulged in various cosmetic changes such as changing names of govt schemes and colours of school uniforms. Change in laws should not be a somewhat similar exercise, he said.

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