PM approves committee to review obsolete laws

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday approved the constitution of a committee to identify obsolete laws, an official statement said.

The committee will submit its report within three months, so that a comprehensive bill can be introduced in the winter session of parliament, based on its recommendations.

The committee will examine all Acts recommended to be repealed by the Committee on Review of Administrative Laws, which was appointed by the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998.

"The prime minister has expressed concern that out of the 1,382 Acts recommended for repeal by that committee, only 415 have been repealed so far," the Prime Minister's Office said.

"He has called for a focused and result-oriented exercise to systematically weed out archaic laws and rules. The committee will also examine acts and rules which may have become obsolete within the last 10 to 15 years."

The committee will be chaired by PMO Secretary R. Ramanujam. Former secretary of the legislative department V.K. Bhasin will be its other member.