71 Acts will be repealed in monsoon session of Parliament: Law minister

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday (July 16) asserted that regional and local languages should be promoted in proceedings at lower and high courts. He also said that 71 obsolete Acts would be repealed in the monsoon session of Parliament starting Monday.

The minister said mother tongue should not be considered lesser than English. He asserted that he does not subscribe to the view that a lawyer should get more respect, cases or fees only because he speaks English.

He also said that courts should not be only for the privileged but the doors of justice should be open for all, equally.

Also read: Nearly 5 crore cases pending in Indian courts: Law Minister Kiren Rijiju

“Arguments and judgment in Supreme Court happen in English. But our vision is that in high courts and lower courts, regional and local languages need to be given priority,” Rijiju said at the inaugural session of the 18th All India Legal Services Authority in Jaipur.

3.5 lakh prisoners in jail

“About 3.5 lakh prisoners in the country are under-trial & in jail, most of them are from poor families. In every district, there is a committee headed by the District Judge to review these cases, and wherever applicable they can be released on bail,” he added.

He said around 71 Acts will be repealed during the Parliament session.

“Government is committed to make the lives of citizens free from any unnecessary hassles particularly caused by compliance burden due to archaic Acts and Rules. Taking forward in this direction, 71 different Acts to be repealed in next Parliament session,” Rijiju said.

“Government is committed to make the lives of #CITIZENS free from any unnecessary hassles particularly caused by compliance burden due to archaic Acts and Rules. Taking forward in this direction, 71 different Acts to be repealed in next #Parliament session.”
– HMLJ @KirenRijiju pic.twitter.com/lw02vR0FGk

— Office of Kiren Rijiju (@RijijuOffice) July 16, 2022

5 crore pending cases

Expressing concern over the rising number of pending cases in the country, he said such cases are going to reach 5 crore but the pendency can be reduced with coordination between the judiciary and the government.

The government and judiciary should have good coordination to achieve the objective of delivering justice to the people, Rijiju said.

As of May 2022, over 4.7 crore cases were pending in courts across different levels of the judiciary.

Free Tele-Law service

Rijiju also announced that from this year, the Tele-Law service will be free of cost for all.

“From this year, Tele-Law service is being made free of cost for citizens in the country,” announced Rijiju.

Tele–Law mainstreams legal aid to the marginalised seeking legal help by connecting them with a panel of lawyers through the tele/video-conferencing infrastructure available at Common Service Centers (CSCs) across 1 lakh Gram Panchayats.

For easy and direct access Tele-Law Mobile Application (both Android and IoS) has also been launched in 2021 and it is presently available in 22 scheduled languages. Benefitting from this digital revolution, Tele-Law has widened the outreach of legal services to 20 lakh-plus beneficiaries in just five years, the Ministry of Law and Justice said.

(With inputs from agencies)