An Outline of Laws Enacted During the Modi Government's 12-Year Tenure (Part 1)

 

An Outline of Laws Enacted During the Modi Government's 12-Year Tenure (Part 1)

Laws seek to address the demands, needs, aspirations, and challenges of all sections of society while striking a balance among their diverse priorities. This overview examines laws enacted since 2014 that aim to advance the vision of a 'Republican India.'These laws strive to balance the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in Parts III and IV of the Constitution of India. Furthermore, they incorporate directives issued by the Supreme Court of India in various judgments. Enacting legislation is merely the first step; it is rightly said that the true challenge lies in implementing the laws passed by the legislature in both letter and spirit.

1Freedom from colonial era laws

The Repealing and Amending Act, 2015:Reduced legislative clutter,Improved accessibility of Indian law, Removed outdated colonial-era enactments ,Continued the government's programme of legal reform through periodic repeal of obsolete . The Act repealed dozens of Central Acts that had: Become redundant. Been superseded by later legislation. Expired by efflux of time. Been fully implemented. Many repealed laws dated back to the colonial period.

 

2-Women Empowerment 

Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act,2017, Earlier there was provision of 12 weeks of paid maternity leave. After Amendment there is provision for 26 weeks of paid maternity leave.But for women having two or more surviving children, maternity leave remains 12 weeks.

The amendment extended maternity benefits to:Adoptive Mother-A woman who legally adopts a child below the age of three months.Commissioning Mother-A biological mother who uses a surrogate mother to bear the child.Benefit 12 weeks of maternity leave from the date the child is handed over.  Work from Home Provision Section 5(5) Where the nature of work permits, the employer may allow: Work from home, For a period mutually agreed between employer and employee. Significance-Introduced flexibility after maternity leave.Crèche Facility Section 11A Every establishment employing 50 or more employees must provide:A crèche facility. The woman employee is entitled to:Four visits to the crèche each day, Including the interval for rest. Significance Supports childcare and facilitates continued employment.

3- Muslim Women  cannot be deprived of fruits of secular India

Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019. Triple Talaq Declared Void and Illegal Section 3 Any pronouncement of instant triple talaq by a Muslim husband upon his wife shall be:Void, and Illegal. Effect The marriage does not dissolve merely because triple talaq is pronounced.   Criminal Offence Section 4 Pronouncement of instant triple talaq is a criminal offence punishable with:Imprisonment up to 3 years, and Fine. The affected Muslim woman is entitled to receive:Subsistence allowance for herself, Subsistence allowance for dependent children. Hence Act  promotes gender justice.It protects Muslim women from arbitrary divorce.It implements the Supreme Court's ruling in Shayara Bano.It furthers  constitutional guarantees of equality and dignity.

 

4-Protecting  Consumers against deficiency of services and goods involving e commerce and misleading advertisements – Jago Grahak Jago

Consumer Protection Act, 2019 The Act aims to:Protect consumer rights, Establish an effective mechanism for consumer dispute resolution. ,Regulate unfair trade practices. ,Address issues arising from e-commerce and online marketplaces. ,Provide remedies against misleading advertisements and defective products. It seeks to fill the gaps in the old Act . Mediation in the Statute is another feature of the new Act .

5-Road Safety Management –backbone of economy of a growing economy

Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019. amended the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 with the objectives of improving road safety, enhancing penalties for traffic violations, protecting accident victims, promoting transparency in licensing, and regulating motor transport services. Community service has been introduced as a form of punishment under the Act . Engineering defects leading to road accidents made an offence with punishments .

6-War on Terrorism – zero tolerance policy

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019. Over time, particularly after the repeal of laws such asTADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act), and  POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act), The Central Government may now designate an individual as a terrorist if he/she Commits or participates in terrorism, prepares for terrorist acts, promotes terrorism,is otherwise involved in terrorism. The amendment was justified partly on the basis that international bodies such as:United Nations Security Council and various countries maintain terrorist-designation frameworks that include individuals.

 

7-Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services

The Aadhaar Act, 2016 provides the legal framework for issuing Aadhaar numbers to residents of India and for using Aadhaar as a means of identification to ensure targeted delivery of government subsidies, benefits, and services.Supreme Court Judgment (2018) in  the landmark judgment of Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India.

A Constitution Bench upheld the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act subject to important limitations. Held Valid-Aadhaar for welfare benefits under Section 7. Aadhaar-PAN linkage allowed Use of Aadhaar for targeted subsidy delivery.

The Court struck down or restricted provisions permitting like Mandatory Aadhaar linkage with bank accounts   and Mandatory Aadhaar linkage with mobile phone connections.

8 Digital India with personal Data Protection Guarantee

Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 is India's first comprehensive legislation governing the processing of digital personal data. It seeks to balance an individual's right to privacy with the need to process personal data for lawful purposes. The Act is a legislative response to the landmark judgment of Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India, where the Supreme Court held that privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution