Outdated laws continue to haunt business, common men

NEW DELHI: A number of provisions of Boilers Act, Indian Police Act, Industrial Disputes Act, Smoke Nuisance Act and Industrial Safety Act have outlived their utilities, factory owners and law ministry officers who ET spoke with said.

The issue of outdated liquor laws has come under criticism recently after Mumbai police arrested a number people under a 63-year-old prohibition law according to which every adult needs to take a permit to consume, possess or transport alcohol.

"If I want to set up a chemical industry in Maharashtra, first I need to take 42 clearances. Then provisions of various acts will haunt the managing director or the CEO. Under the Industrial Safety Act, for example, the MD will be liable to be punished if a worker does not wear a helmet," says a Mumbai-based chemical factory owner.

In Maharashtra, one can get a daily license for 5 rupees or a lifetime permit for Rs 1,000, according to Bombay Foreign liquor Rules of 1953. "The question is not about the fee. It's a hassle. Why does a progressive state like Maharashtra need to continue with a law which is not even enforced in true spirits," says an executive in a private bank who recently landed up at Collector's office at Fort area in South Mumbai to get a permit so that he could drink with a peace of mind. "I was advised to get my lifetime permit laminated," he said.

The Indian Police Act is 151 years old, and some provisions are highly contentious in today's context. The section 110 of the Bombay Police Act, for example, is being criticized as it allows a policeman a great degree of autonomy to decide what conduct is "offensive" and what's not. Under the same provision, a constable can decide and arrest a person for indecent behaviour in public.

And it's not just the content of some acts which is getting old-fashioned. The names of a few acts need to be changed too. "Why do you call a law Smoke Nuisance Act? It's a 107 years old law and many would argue some provisions are still valid. But should not the name be changed?" asks a law ministry official.

The Bengal Smoke Nuisance Act, 1905, was enacted by the British to preserve the whiteness of white-marble structure of Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata, then India's capital city. It was feared that smoke of furnaces of Kolkata and its suburbs would damage the structure. Seven years ago, a section in Kolkata celebrated the centennial of the legislation. The Smoke Nuisances Commission, which was implementing the Act finally got merged with West Bengal Pollution Control Board in post-independence time. But the Act still remains.