Law Ministry to bring bill to remove 65 more obsolete laws in coming Parliament session: Kiren Rijiju

The law minister also said attempts by a constitutional wing to encroach upon the powers of the other should be "fiercely resisted" as it posed a great danger to democracy.

The Union Ministry of Law and Justice will bring a bill to remove 65 more obsolete laws in the coming Parliament Session, said Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday.

Rijiju gave this information at The 23rd Commonwealth Law Conference inaugurated today by Goa Governor P.S. Sreedharan Pillai.

"The government has undertaken a big exercise to repeal obsolete and archaic laws and 1486 such as have been removed from the statute book in the last 8 years, informed the Union Law and Justice Minister. He also said that in the coming Parliament session, the Union Ministry of Law and Justice is set to bring a bill to repeal 65 more obsolete laws and other such provisions," Rijiju was quoted saying by ANI.

The law minister also said attempts by a constitutional wing to encroach upon the powers of the other should be "fiercely resisted" as it posed a great danger to democracy.

Rijiju's remarks at the Commonwealth Law Conference here came days after the Supreme Court ruled that the appointments of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners should be made by the President on the recommendation of a committee comprising the prime minister, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and the chief justice of India.

The apex court had also said that the theory that courts cannot or do not make laws was a myth which was exploded a long time ago.

"One of the important success story of democracy is a strong constitutional permission which holds for a clear separation of power for the judiciary, executive and legislature. If any wing tries to encroach on the territory of the other wing, it must be fiercely resisted because it poses great danger to democracy itself," Rijiju said.

"Nobody can challenge the constitutional provisions. One should not even attempt to defy the provisions of the Constitution," the law minister said. Rijiju said the mandate of the people, which has followed due process of law, must be respected at any cost and this cannot be challenged by mere campaign," the law minister said.

Rijiju also said he had seen in recent times that in the name of freedom of expression, attempts have been made to attack democracy itself. "When we talk about freedom, liberty and constitutional rights, we should not forget about constitutional duties. The duties of a citizen are important," he said.

The law minister said in India democracy cannot be overthrown, because Indians are inherently democratic. "An attempt was made to impose emergency in 1975, but it was resisted," Rijiju said.

He said all calibrated malicious campaigns to insult the mandate of the people should be exposed and resisted. "In democracy, people are the supreme authority and the Constitution is ultimate guide," the law minister said.

with PTI inputs