* Unaccounted obsolete laws exist on statute book
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, June 18: In a testimony of utter disrespect to the Legislature, the announcements made by three Law Ministers on the floor of the Legislative Assembly regarding establishment of first ever Law Commission in Jammu and Kashmir have failed to see light of the day despite lapse of over four years. Due to inordinate delay in setting up of this Commission, unaccounted laws still exist on the statue book despite having no utility in the present day needs and requirements.
By delaying establishment of much needed Law Commission, the successive Governments have given new definition to ‘under active consideration’ and ‘under examination’ words as at every forum these terms are used but without any follow-up action.
The announcement regarding establishment of Law Commission of Jammu and Kashmir was first made in the Legislative Assembly during the Budget Session held in March 2013 by the then Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
This was reiterated by the then Law Minister Mir Saifullah in the 4th meeting of the Advisory Council of the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms at Union Capital on June 24, 2013. Thereafter, a detailed exercise was initiated in the Law Department and finally the proposal was submitted to the Finance and Planning Departments for concurrence as several posts were required to be created for the Commission.
During the Budget Session of 2014, it was announced by the then Government that establishment of Law Commission was under active consideration and very shortly the State would get first ever Law Commission. However, the file in this regard continued to shuttle between Finance, Law and Planning Departments for quite long time. There was difference of opinion among these departments over the manpower required to be kept at the disposal of Commission.
Nearly one and half years after the announcement made in March 2013, the file regarding setting up of Law Commission reached the State Cabinet on June 4, 2014 but the proposal was deferred on the unfounded apprehension that Commission may reconsider Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, despite the fact that Commission would have the powers to review or repeal only those laws which were enacted by the State Legislature.
After remaining in cold storage for several months, the establishment of first ever Law Commission received the attention of Law Department soon after the PDP-BJP Government took over in 2015 and accordingly a fresh memorandum was submitted to General Administration Department. However, the fate of the same is not known to anybody as the proposal was never placed before the Cabinet.
Now, the present dispensation has again given stereotype reply in the Legislative Assembly during the ongoing Budget Session by mentioning: “Government is contemplating to establish Law Commission”. As per the sources in Law Department, fresh proposal in this regard is yet to be made to the GAD for placement before the State Cabinet. In the absence of fresh proposal how the Cabinet nod would be obtained remains a million dollar question.
“Though review of laws should be a continuous process and periodical reviews are required to be carried out by the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the last review of obsolete and outdated laws was carried out six years back when on the recommendations of a Committee 13 laws that had become obsolete/outdated were repealed under Jammu and Kashmir Obsolete Laws (Repeal) Act of 2010”, sources informed.
In response to a question, sources said that unaccounted number of laws are still existing on the statue book of the State as since 2010 no efforts were made to review such laws for their repeal. “Not only repeal of outdated laws, the Commission, if established till now, would have helped the State in carrying out necessary amendments in various laws in order to make them relevant in the context of present day needs and requirements”, they added.
“It is a matter of concern that announcements made by three Law Ministers that too on the floor of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council have failed to see light of the day during the past over four years”, they regretted, adding “this also amounts to utter disrespect to the Legislature, which otherwise is being considered as most powerful after Parliament”.
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