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Lok Sabha passes bills for repealing 235 legislations

Last Updated 19 December 2017, 18:41 IST

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed two Bills to repeal the 235 obsolete laws, including a 1936 Act that recognised marriages unduly solemnized in Bengaluru by an unauthorized Christian missionary.  

The Prevention of Seditious Meeting Act, 1911, which was enacted by British government to ban political meetings, is also among the laws that the Bills seek to repeal.  The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2017, and the Repealing and Amending (Second) Bill were passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Once passed by Rajya Sabha, the two Bills are now set to repeal 235 archaic laws, including 50, which were passed by British govement before India attained Independece in 1947.   The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2017, seeks to repeal three sections of the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2007, apart from making minor amendments to three more laws. The Repealing and Amending (Second) Bill, 2017, seeks to repeal nine more ordinances promulgated by the Governor General of India before Independence.

One of the laws, which the Bills seek to repeal, is the Bangalore Marriages Validating Act, 1936.  

The law was introduced by British government in 1936 after it came to light that Walter James McDonald Redwood, a Missionary of the Plymouth Brethren, had solemnized marriages between some "Christian subjects of His Magesty" in Civil and Military Station of Bengaluru.  

Redwood in 1929 secured a licence from the Resident of Mysore – the representative of the British government – to solemnize marriages where either the bride or the groom would be a "Native Christian Subject of His Majesty".   He, however, solemnized several marriages among "Christian subjects of His Majesty" in the Civil and Military stations in Bengaluru despite having no licence for this.  The Bangalore Marriages Validating Act was brought into force in 1936 to legally recognize the marriages solemnized by Redwood among "Christian subjects of His Majesty".  

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the Lok Sabha that the pre-1947 laws were the "unfortunate part of the colonial legacy" and the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was repealing the obsolete laws in accordance with its progressive and pro-reform approach.   Prasad, who had introduced the two Bills in February and August this year, was replying to the debate on the proposed legislations.  

He said altogether 1824 obsolete laws have been repealed after the Modi-led Government took office in May 2014.  

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(Published 19 December 2017, 17:54 IST)

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