IEP Chandigarh, September 8
The Haryana Government has taken steps to decriminalize certain laws and Acts. The objective of this exercise is to improve the ease of doing business and ease of living for citizens by reducing burdensome compliances prescribed in the Acts/Rules. The exercise aims to simplify, digitize, decriminalize, and rationalize compliances.
While presiding over the meeting regarding decriminalization of Laws/Acts here today, the Chief Secretary, Mr. Sanjeev Kaushal has directed all Administrative Secretaries to submit a report on the decriminalization of laws and Acts in their respective departments within a fortnight. Additionally, the departments have been tasked with reviewing 319 Acts to identify provisions that could be decriminalized.
Mr. Kaushal said that the primary goal is to avoid registering FIRs, imprisoning people, or putting them on trial for minor violations of these laws, which are not serious in nature. Instead of treating them as criminal acts, they may be treated as civil offenses or regulated through administrative measures, fines, or other non-criminal penalties. The goal is to foster a business- and industry-friendly environment within the state, recognizing that certain minor transgressions may occur as part of regular work and should not be categorized as criminal offenses. He said that various departments of the state government have taken this initiative enthusiastically and so far, 28 Acts have been successfully decriminalized.
Mr. Kaushal said that the departments are actively engaged in the exercise and have been conducting an exhaustive analysis of Acts, Rules, Regulations, and Notifications to reduce the burdensome compliances in the state. Since the inception of the “Reducing Compliance Burden Exercise”, Haryana has reduced the burden of over 500 compliances, including the decriminalization of Acts across departments.
