New Delhi: Amendments to 42 Acts administered by 19 ministries, decriminalization and rationalization of offenses to enhance governance based on trust, ease of living and doing business – this is what the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022 envisages. kept in the Lok Sabha last month
Introduced by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal during the Winter Session, bill Seeks to replace prison sentences with monetary penalties, allowing parties to trade freely. It seeks to amend around 113 imprisonment clauses in various legislations governing environment, air pollution, housing, money laundering etc. There are altogether 73 of these sections in the seven laws.
With 22 proposed changes, the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 – aimed at promoting maritime infrastructural development – will have maximum imprisonment provisions replaced with financial liabilities.
In addition, the Bill proposes a 10 per cent increase in the minimum fine, which will be reviewed every three years – after it becomes law.
The bill has been sent to a 31-member joint committee for examination.
ThePrint brings to you key highlights of the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill and the key functions that will undergo changes once the Bill becomes law:
environmental protection law
According to the Bill, 12 sections of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 are likely to have only monetary penalties.
Changes are also suggested for inadvertent compliance violations, such as sections 7 and 9 of the Act that penalize excessive discharge of pollutants. Currently, non-compliance of these two sections attracts a jail term of 5 years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. After the amendment, this would include a fine ranging between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 15 lakh.
Similar provisions – such as failing to provide assistance where inspectors are unable to collect samples – carry a prison sentence of more than five years. But now it will be replaced with a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh.
air pollution
The Bill also seeks to amend the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
Under the Act, there is six years in jail and a fine of Rs 10,000 for emissions in excess of what is currently prescribed by the state board. But the amendment proposes to change this to a fine of minimum Rs 10,000 and a maximum of Rs 15 lakh.
Interestingly, the bill also intends to crack down on government employees. In case of violations by government departments, it introduces a new fine in the form of ‘one month’s basic salary’ of the employee. This penalty shall not apply if it can be shown that this was without his knowledge or instructions or that the officer exercised due care.
information technology
The Bill also proposes to decriminalize six sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Proposed amendments include a punishment for failure to surrender the license; for failure intermediaries to protect information; and for Violation of confidentiality and privacy.
Most importantly, it seeks to remove Section 66 of the IT Act, which makes it a punishable offense for any person to send objectionable information using a computer or any other electronic device.
Specifically, in the 2015 landmark decision Supreme Court, the provision was termed by the court as “open-ended and unconstitutionally vague”.
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pain point relief
It also amends the Legal Metrology Act – a law of 2009, which, inter alia, provides for standards of weights and measures.
The Bill proposes to decriminalize four sections – Section 25 (use of non-standard weight or measure), Section 27 (manufacture of non-standard weight or measure), Section 28 (transacting in contravention of prescribed standards) , and Section 31 (non-production of documents).
The Jan Vishwas Bill further amends the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the food safety law in India, to change penalties for refusal to surrender licence, failure to furnish information and file returns. For example, where an entity refuses to surrender its licence, the current law provides for a jail term of six months or a fine of up to Rs 10,000, or both. The Bill does away with imprisonment – and seeks a higher fine of up to Rs 5 lakh.
Similarly, there will be no prison sentence for the offenses of giving false information and carrying on a business without a license – which carry three months and six months imprisonment respectively. But one of the amendments proposed in the Bill seeks to increase the penalty for this offence. For giving false information, a violator will have to pay a fine of Rs 3 lakh (above Rs 1 lakh), and Rs 10 lakh (above Rs 2 lakh) for continuing business without a valid license.
Cinematograph Act will be more strict
A set of proposed amendments to the Cinematograph Act, 1952 – to make provisions for certification of cinematograph films for exhibition and to regulate exhibitions – intend to make the existing law stricter.
Additional sections of the law have created new offenses under the Act. The Bill proposes to punish any person who alters or tampers with a film after it has been certified, with imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of Rs 10 lakh, or both.
Similarly, the exhibition of a film not certified by the Censor Board or without the Board’s mark or with tampered marks of the Board can now attract a jail term of three years or a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh, or both. , An additional fine of Rs 1 lakh per day will be imposed if the offense continues.
If a film certified as “A” by the Board is screened to a minor, the person doing so shall be liable to pay a fine not exceeding Rs.10,000 per person for each such screening.
The new provisions also impose penalty on a person who fails to deliver a certified film to a distributor or exhibitor. Whoever fails to comply with this provision shall be liable to pay Rs 5 lakh, which shall be levied by the authorized officer designated under the law.
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Pharmacy, Copyright and other Acts
After the finalization of the Jan Vishwas Bill, some changes will also be seen in the Pharmacy Act. Willfully obstructing an inspector inspecting pharmacy shops is punishable with imprisonment of up to six months, or with a maximum fine of Rs 1,000, or with both. While doing away with the jail term, the Bill recommends increasing the fine to Rs 1 lakh.
Further, for persons claiming false registration, it first increases the fine from a maximum of Rs 500 to Rs 50,000. For subsequent convictions, it removes six months’ imprisonment and increases the fine from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
In a situation where an unregistered person distributes the drug, it does away with the jail term of six months and increases the fine from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
The Act also removes certain punishments that were provided earlier – including section 68 (false statement to deceive or influence any authority or official) of the Copyright Act.
Moreover, for driving without a permit, Section 192A of the Motor Vehicles Act provides for both imprisonment of six months and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
However, the amendment allows for discretion to proceed with either imprisonment, fine, or both.
lapse
The Bill envisages removal of a chapter of the Indian Post Office Act, which penalizes a person employed to carry or deliver mail bags or postal material for voluntary withdrawal from duty without permission or notice.
For making a false entry in a register kept by a person employed to carry or deliver any postal article, stealing, dishonestly misappropriating, concealing, destroying or throwing away postal articles, opening, stopping or delaying postal articles Penalties for fraudulently preparing, altering, concealing or destroying post office documents and sending unpaid postal articles will also be removed after the amendment.
(Editing by Anumeha Saxena)
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