Progressive legislations and judicial pronouncements in the last 10 years: An analysis

The present NDA regime has been impressive with the electoral numbers in the Parliament. The same can be attributed to the strong willingness and open-mindedness of the present regime to bring in reforms in the national interest. This is evidenced by various key legislations and judicial pronouncements in the last decade that affected the general public. There have been instances where the judiciary has taken a different stance, but the fairness instilled in the present regime has manifested acceptability and tolerance on its part. On social, religious and personal law aspects There were various path-breaking changes brought in by the government, since its first term. A number of different amendments/legislations were enacted on issues relating to society, religion and individual autonomy. 1. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 or the abolition of triple talaq. The Muslim personal laws allowed different forms of divorcing. One of them is Talaq-a-biddat where the husband pronounces talaq three times and divorce is effected upon both of them. The said Act makes triple talaq void and illegal. It also penalises it with punishment up to three years for any such violation. o  It is important to outline that the Supreme Court in  Shayara Bano v Union of India outlawed the practice of talaq-e-biddat, and held it unconstitutional. This judgement was the precursor to this crucial legislation. This judgement was welcomed by the women in the community and now ensures no easy misuse at the hands of their husbands. 2. EWS Reservations or  Constitution (One Hundred and Third) Amendment Act, 2019. This basically allowed the government to provide reservations on the basis of economic criterion alone. The upper limit of the EWS reservation has been pegged at 10 per cent, above which, there can be no reservation for the EWS candidates. o This led to a flurry of petitions before the SC challenging the constitutionality of the amendment. The Supreme Court formed a  5-judge Constitutional Bench (Janhit Abhiyan v Union of India) and decided the vires in favour of the Act. It held that the Amendment and EWS Reservation is constitutionally valid. This double affirmation via the judiciary gives a shimmer of hope that the organs of state have not locked horns completely and absolutely. This new type of reservation caters to the economically weaker population of the country, which was neglected till now and indicates the departure from reservations based on older parameters of caste and creed. It would be interesting to see its impact in future. 3. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 was passed to protect the rights of transgenders. It defines a transgender person and protects the rights of transgender persons and their welfare. It provides legal recognition of transgender individuals as a third gender and recognises their right to self-identification based on their gender identity. One of the major benefits of the Act is that it prohibits discrimination against transgender persons in education, employment, healthcare, and access to public spaces. o This has helped the community in getting  access to a lot more places than they used to get earlier.  Various NGOs have been working with full vigour to help the said community in almost every aspect. This Act has provided them with more opportunities to work for the benefit. 4. The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act, 2019 proscribes and punishes the production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement of e-cigarettes and like devices. o This was necessary for the public interest and the rising addiction to e-cigarettes amongst the youth population. Punishment is enumerated for carrying out any of the aforementioned acts. o The enforcement of this Act has been  weak. The easy access to E-cigarettes is evinced by the availability of the same in various local shops. Recently, the Union government also issued a public notice for stricter implementation of this Act. This shows the seriousness accorded to the issue of youth addiction and the relevant steps taken by the government in that direction. o Harmful products like e-cigarettes are a spillover of western culture and given the Indian government’s conscious efforts to protect and enhance the Indic way of life, this embargo gives a message that’s required. 5. The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 inter alia, provides for the establishment of the Unique Identification Authority of India, issuance of Aadhaar number to individuals, maintenance and updating of information in the Central Identities Data Repository, issues pertaining to security, privacy and confidentiality of information as well as offences and penalties for contravention of relevant statutory provisions. o The constitutionality of this Act was upheld in the  KS Puttaswamy Judgement of 2018 with certain sections being  struck down. Sections 33(2), 47 & 57 were struck down by the Court. Sections 33(2) & 57 are essentially related to sharing of certain information of individuals. On security of the State, economic development and integrating Bharat The government has been quite proactive, specifically, when it comes to national security. A lot of measures and operations were undertaken to safeguard the integrity and stability of the country. One of the measures taken was the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution via The Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019. This Act provides for the reorganisation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir by carving out 2 Union Territories: Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. The case challenging the vires of the Act of 2019 is sub-judice before a five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court. It is yet to be seen how the SC rules on this but the abrogation of the special status has had a positive impact in general. One of the direct and axiomatic  benefits is the enjoyment of rights and benefits of the Indian Laws which were unavailable before the abrogation. Also, the three-tier Panchayat system, which was not available earlier, is  established. Additionally, since the inception of Government Udyam Portal, around 2 lakh MSMEs have  registered themselves therein on the portal with approximately 38,000 of them being run by Women. Also, around 21,600 manufacturing and service units were  established  in the year 2021-22. Further, in the last two years, J&K has received various investment proposals worth Rs 70,000 crore out of which, investment worth Rs 24,000 crore has been approved. As of 2022, infrastructure projects worth Rs 58,477 crore were  completed under the PM Development Package which was launched in 2015. The tourism industry is also   growing rapidly in J&K, with the Srinagar Airport experiencing its  highest footfall of daily passengers last year. The budgetary allocation for tourism has also increased substantially, by around 184 per cent as compared to last year. On economic fronts 1. The Central Goods & Services Tax Act, 2017 was passed. This was brought in after the a href=“https://gstcouncil.gov.in/sites/default/files/consti-amend-act.pdf" target=”_blank" rel=“noopener noreferrer” data-auth=“NotApplicable” data-linkindex=“25” data-ogsc="">101st Amendment was added to the Constitution. It allowed both the centre and states to levy GST. o  Before the 2016 amendment, taxation powers were divided between the centre and states.  For example, while the centre exclusively taxed services, the states exclusively taxed goods at the time of sale. The 2016 amendment replaces various central and state taxes such as excise duty, service tax, sales tax, entry tax and entertainment tax with GST.  Central GST, State GST and integrated GST were introduced. o GST registrations and revenues have  grown exponentially alike. The registration number has increased from 65 lakhs to 1.4 crores during the six-year period of 2017-2023. Also, the revenues from GST have increased from around Rs 8.76 trillion in 2018-19 to Rs 13.25 trillion in 2022-23. 2. Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was introduced to consolidate and amend the laws relating to reorganisation and insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals in a time bound manner for maximisation of value of assets of such persons, to promote entrepreneurship availability of credit and balance the interests of all the Stakeholders and to establish an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India. o Constitutionality of various provisions of the IBC was upheld in the  Swiss Ribbons Pvt Ltd vs Union Of India judgement where Nariman, J ended the judgement stating that Defaulter’s Paradise is lost and, in its place, economy’s rightful position has been regained. o   The  Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India provided data as of 30 June, 2023, with regards to the corporate insolvency regime in India post-2016. According to it, out of a total of 6,815 cases admitted for running the corporate insolvency resolution process, only 30 per cent of them are still ongoing. This shows a good resolution pace. Also, an empirical study by IIM Ahmedabad was carried out, and after interacting with the important stakeholders, it concluded that IBC has been performing well in terms of post-resolution benefits. The resolved companies are more successful, efficient and there is lesser delay. Conclusion The present regime at the Centre, often referred to as “intolerant” and “communal”, has actually brought in some landmark legislations that have an immediate and long-term positive impact on Bharat at every level—be it social, economic or cultural. It is noteworthy that the government has also respected the judicial pronouncements of the apex court and adhered to the provisions of some of its proposed laws that were struck down. The writer is an advocate in the Madras High Court and author of the book, ‘Defaulter’s Paradise Lost: Demystifying the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016’. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.