New Delhi : The cabinet Friday approved the introduction of the Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill, 2015, in parliament.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the meeting.
The bill will repeal 758 appropriation acts and 111 state appropriation acts enacted by parliament between 1950 and 1976.
“This is in keeping with the prime minister’s commitment to bring reforms in the country’s legal system so as to make it more accessible to the common man,” an official statement said.
It said that the bill is also in consonance with the recommendations of a select committee of Rajya Sabha for a repeal clause in the Appropriation Acts.
“However, such clause shall be provided when the enactment of the Appropriation Act, 2016 is undertaken where under the Appropriation Acts of 2013 shall be repealed,” the statement said.
The statement pointed out that the appropriation acts being repealed have lost their meaning but are still on the statute books.
“The repealing of appropriation acts whose terms have ended will in no way cause any negative impact on actions that were validly taken under these acts,” the statement added.
A commission on reviewing administrative laws gave its report in 1998 identifying a large body of laws for being repealed.
It had recommended the repeal of 700 appropriation acts passed by parliament from time to time since 1950.
The commission had also recommended the repeal on the ground that these laws have become either irrelevant or dysfunctional.
Recently, the Law Commission of India in its 248 report on “Obsolete Laws: Warranting Immediate Repeal” has observed that a large number of appropriation acts enacted during thr past several years, have lost their meaning but are still shown on the statute books.