Govt to review, repeal outdated laws

Under mounting public pressure to plug the glaring loopholes in the country’s legal system, the government has decided to review outdated laws, reports Nagendar Sharma.

Under mounting public pressure to plug the glaring loopholes in the country’s legal system, the government has decided to review outdated laws.

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The Law Ministry will examine such laws, particularly those affecting “individual rights”, to avoid a repeat of cases like that of teenager Ruchika Girhotra.

“A committee in the ministry will undertake a review of old and outdated laws and recommend repealing or modification in important laws,” Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily told HT.

The government faced two peculiar situations in 2009 due to the 150-year-old Indian Penal Code. On July 2, the Delhi High Court ruled sexual activity between consenting adults of the same sex in private was not a crime. The court partially read down section 377 of the IPC, which dealt with the offence.

Public outcry in the Ruchika case forced the government to announce a series of concrete steps. “Three sections of the IPC deal with harassment against women and none are adequate. Therefore a fresh definition and possibly an amended section is required,” said a Law ministry official.