The Lok Sabha has passed the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023, with the aim of promoting ease of doing business in the country.
The bill, which was passed on Thursday, seeks to decriminalise 183 provisions across 42 central legislations—such as the Information Technology Act, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and the Trademark Act.
The bill's passage is driven by an aim to ensure that businesses and government departments operate without fear of imprisonment for minor, technical, or procedural defaults. Another reason that necessitated its passage is that criminal consequences for minor defaults clutter the legal system, which delays the adjudication of more serious crimes by putting them on the back-burner.
Therefore, the bill seeks to establish a balance between the severity of the offence committed and the gravity of the prescribed punishment to ensure adherence to the law by businesses and citizens without losing the rigour of the law.
One of the major concerns of foreign investors when they consider investments or acquisitions in India is the criminal consequences arising out of the existing defaults of the company. Hence, the changes will enhance India's credibility as a global investment and manufacturing destination, Joebin Devassy, partner at Desai and Diwanji, told BQ Prime.
The legislature is clearly moving towards a legal framework where imprisonment is sparingly used and limited only to grave offences and a governance of Jan Vishwas i.e. a governance of trust, certainly helps reduce the burden on an already overburdened judiciary.Joebin Devassy, Partner, Desai & Diwanji
While the amendments impact different legislations, some such as the changes to environment legislations are quite progressive, Devassy said.
Under the bill, decriminalisation of offences will be undertaken in the following manner:
Both imprisonment and fines are proposed to be removed in some provisions, whereas in certain provisions only imprisonment is proposed to be removed while retaining the fine.
In some provisions, imprisonment is proposed to be removed while simultaneously enhancing the fines.
In certain provisions, both imprisonment and fines are proposed to be replaced by penalties instead. The difference between a fine and a penalty is that fines are imposed by courts after taking into account the facts and circumstances of the matter, whereas penalties are predetermined standards for non-compliance with legislation.
Lastly, it is proposed that few provisions will allow for compounding of offences. If an offence can be compounded, it means that the parties are at a liberty to settle and compromise outside the court.
To effectively achieve all this, the bill suggests measures like pragmatic changes to fines and penalties that make them proportional to the crime committed, the establishment of adjudicating officers and appellate authorities, and periodic increases in the value of fines and penalties.
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