All bills old and older

There was another twist in the plot this week in the four-decade-long saga of the Lok Pal Bill. The cabinet has referred it to the law ministry. A version of this bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in 1969 but it was not passed by the Rajya Sabha. The recently introduced women's reservation bill has also had a pretty tortured trajectory since it was first introduced in 1996. Are these long-delayed bills the exceptions to the rule? How long can bills stay alive in the system, anyway? M.R. Madhavan explains

•Are Lok Pal Bill and Women's Reservation Bill isolated examples of long-pending legislative ideas?

No. Several other important pieces of legislation have been in the works for a long time. In 1993, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to education is a fundamental right. The Constitution was amended in 2002 to reflect this judgement. A bill to implement this right was drafted in 2005 but has not been introduced in Parliament.

A version of the Broadcast Regulation Bill (that sets up a regulatory body for the media) was introduced in 1997 and referred to a select committee but lapsed at the end of that year. Several versions have been drafted since. The ministry released the '19th draft' in 2006. It released a subsequent draft in 2007.

India's police is governed by an 1860 Act, enacted in the context of the events of 1857-58. There have been several attempts to modify its provisions. These include recommendations by the Dharam Vira Commission in 1977 and the Justice Malimath Committee in 2003. The Supreme Court gave directives to the central and state governments in October 2006, asking them to comply by year end. While some states gave executive orders in compliance, several others raised objections. A committee chaired by Soli Sorabjee also prepared a draft bill in 2006, which was circulated to state governments. Till date, the government has not introduced the relevant bill.

... contd.

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