Laws and order

Decriminalisation will improve business environment

The introduction of an omnibus Bill to decriminalise minor offences, amending 183 provisions across 42 Act administered by 19 ministries, is being positioned as a means of improving the ease of doing business climate and unclogging the judicial system. It represents a continuum of the Narendra Modi government’s focus since 2014, with the Companies Act 2013 undergoing a thorough review to identify minor offences that attracted criminal liabilities. The exercise either changed the nature of the offence to a civil wrong or certain offences were omitted from the statute book altogether. Overall, the number of penal provisions was reduced from