The government has assured that the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023, passed by Rajya Sabha by a voice vote on August 2, will not decriminalise serious offences related to spurious drugs, adding that apprehensions related to the matter were “misplaced”.
“Only minor cases of testing failure will be covered (under the Bill). It is only a limited sub-set,” said DPIIT Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh at a press briefing on Thursday. What is made compoundable are drugs which are not adulterated, not spurious, or not manufactured without licence, he added
Even cases of selling drugs without prescription are not being decriminalised, the Secretary said, adding that apprehensions expressed by some on the matter of leniency in dealing with spurious drugs were misplaced.
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023, seeks to decriminalise minor offences through amendments in 183 provisions of 42 Acts..
Singh said the Centre will help States in simplification, rationalisation or decriminalisation of provisions with a view to promoting ease of doing business. The steps taken by States to implement the provisions may be used as inputs while rating them for ease of doing business, he added.
“We intend to follow with an inter-ministerial working group which will look at other provisions where further simplification, rationalisation or decriminalisation is possible and we are intending to do the same exercise at the state level by providing guidance to the states as well,” he said.
The bill converts several fines to penalties which will lead to declogging of courts. While a fine is imposed by a judicial mechanism and one has to go to a court, a penalty can be levied through the administrative mechanism.
It also removes imprisonment as a punishment for many offences. All offences under the Post Office Act of 1898 are being removed.
A working group has been formed to take the initiative forward. The group comprises representatives from industry associations, business chambers, legal professionals, legal experts and officials of seven ministries.
Besides, it has representatives of the National Housing Bank (NHB), the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the Central Pollution Control Board.
Some of the Acts that will be amended through the bill are the Press and Registration of Books Act, the Boilers Act, the Indian Forest Act, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, the Warehousing Corporations Act, the Food Corporations Act, the Patents Act, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Food Safety and Standards Act.