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Polity & Governance
Mahesh

15/07/23 07:12 AM IST

Jan Vishwas Bill

In News
  • The Union Cabinet has reportedly approved amendments to the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023.
  • The proposed changes aim to decriminalize minor offences by amending 183 provisions across 42 Acts administered by 19 ministries.
Provisions of the bill
  • The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022 amends 42 laws, across multiple sectors, including agriculture, environment, and media and publication. Acts being amended include the Indian Post Office Act, 1898, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, and the Information Technology Act, 2000.
  • The Bill converts several fines to penalties, meaning that court prosecution is not necessary to administer punishments. It also removes imprisonment as a punishment for many offences. All offences under the Post Office Act, 1898 are being removed.
  • Fines and penalties for certain offences in specified Acts are being increased. These fines and penalties will be increased by 10% of the minimum amount every three years.
  • The Bill amends some Acts to provide for the appointment of Adjudicating Officers to decide penalties. It also specifies the appellate mechanism.
  • The Bill creates an Environmental Protection Fund for education, awareness, and research for environment protection. The reasons for creating this fund are unclear given the overlap between its purpose and that of existing funds of the Central and State Pollution Control Boards.
  • The Bill decriminalises offences under the High Denomination Bank Notes (Demonetisation) Act, 1978. This Act was used to remove high-value banknotes as legal tender on January 16, 1978.
  • This deadline also applied to regulatory compliances under that Act. Therefore, amending punishments under this Act after 45 years may not be relevant.
  • For instance, under the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937, counterfeiting grade designation marks is punishable with imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 5,000. The Bill intends to replace this with a penalty of Rs 8 lakh.
Source- PRS

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