ગુજરાતી
English
Now 137 laws have changed in Gujarat
Ahmedabad, July 4, 2024 (Google translation from Gujarati)
From July 1, new provisions have been implemented by the Parliament regarding IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act across the country. In this regard, Gujarat has become the first state in the whole country to implement relevant amendments in the laws of Gujarat state through the ordinance of the Governor regarding these provisions.
IPC (Indian Penal Code) now Indian Justice Code, 2023 CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) now, Indian Civil Protection Code, 2023 and India Evidence Act (India Evidence Act) now Indian Evidence Act, 2023 Hence the erstwhile IPC, the name and some provisions of CrPC and Evidence Act have been repealed. Not only the names of these laws but also some sections of those laws have been repealed or amended by the laws of the state.
The Department of Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs of the state government has directed all administrative departments to identify the provisions of such Acts and consolidate them into the Acts of the State of Gujarat. According to which, so far 137 laws in the state have been amended to various provisions of the above laws. Gujarat laws have been amended with the name and provision of the new law in which the old laws of the state will mention the sections of the new laws enacted by Parliament.
Cows
BJP-ruled Gujarat has passed a law banning the slaughter or transportation of cattle. The maximum period of punishment has been increased from seven years to life imprisonment.
Social media
The Intermediary Rules were framed by the central government in 2021, which impose strict controls on the type of information that can be put on social media and internet service providers.
It also suggested strict restrictions on how content should be broadcast on news websites and OTT platforms like Netflix. It has been challenged in several high courts, calling it unconstitutional.
The number of orders to remove content from websites has also increased. For example, 3,417 URLs were blocked on X (formerly Twitter) in India in 2022, while only eight Twitter URLs were blocked outside India in 2014.
Internet shutdowns have also increased sharply to suppress protests. India leads the world with more than 50 percent of the total internet shutdowns. There were six internet shutdowns in 2014, while there were 80 internet shutdowns in 2023.
Data protection
The government passed the data protection law in 2023 after a decade of debate, but this law was heavily criticized. According to the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022, the police can collect information such as biometric data, biological samples, etc. related to any person convicted or arrested under any law.
Changes
Seven states, including Gujarat, have strengthened their anti-conversion laws or passed new laws regulating marriages since 2017.
UCC
The second major change was the passing of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) by the BJP government in Uttarakhand. Implementing the UCC is a very old promise of the BJP.
There are laws to make non-Muslim minority religion people living abroad permanent citizens of India.
Changes have been made in the law for foreign companies to invest in India.
Rumours have changed the rules of the bad loan industry. Laws have been made to increase the fees of banks to make them profitable.
Laws have been amended to facilitate environmental clearances by industries.
Right to Information
The Right to Information (RTI) Act has undergone several changes in the last few years. Perhaps the biggest change is the new Digital Personal Data Protection Act. The RTI Act was amended in 2019. After the amendment, the central government can decide the terms of appointment of information commissioners.
Reserves
Previously protected groups such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes have been excluded from this provision of 10 per cent reservation in educational institutions and government jobs.
ED
In 2019, the BJP made sweeping changes to the Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) Act-2002. The law was made much broader. This law was strict from the beginning. The amendment allows the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the central agency investigating money laundering crimes, to start investigation on its own without filing a First Information Report. The ED registered 195 cases in 2018, while 981 cases were registered in 2020. From 2004 to 2014, the ED seized assets worth Rs. 5,346 crore and filed 104 charge sheets. In comparison, from 2014 to 2022, the ED will spend Rs. 99,356 crore on assets seized and 888 charge sheets were filed. According to the information available on the ED website, only 45 people were convicted under the PML Act till January, 2023.
Post Office
With the enactment of the Post Office Act 2023, the Indian Post Office Act, 1898 has been repealed.
Labor Laws
States announced non-implementation of labor laws. It is as if there is a competition among states to allow companies to exploit labor. Congress and BJP state governments are now competing to bring so-called reforms in labor laws and ease of doing business. It is likely that this competition will increase after the Corona lockdown. Gujarat Chief Minister
Re 2020 in China
Inviting foreign companies willing to shift their investments to Gujarat, announced that the state government has an ordinance to exempt new industrial projects from implementing all but three labor laws.
Land
To ensure that the farmers of the state get a fair price for their valuable land, the state government has taken an ambitious decision and made significant changes in the fragmentation law in the state. Due to which any farmer of the state can buy or sell a piece of land anywhere in the state.
Purchase of land
A new law is coming, even those who are not farmers will be able to buy land. This will cause land prices to skyrocket. Farmers with small land holdings will sell their land. They will become laborers. In Gujarat, 50 percent i.e. 25 lakh such farmers have less than 1 hectare of land.
Industries can buy as much land as they want. The Modi government has given them many concessions to buy agricultural land.
Apart from this, there are many such laws on which controversy has been created. (Google translation from Gujarati)
