Though there was a lot of disturbance in the recent concluded monsoon session, 18 Bills in total were passed in the session. Some of them are landmark ones which will have long term impact on India economically and socially…
In this piece, we will analyze the 5 most important ones. They are as follows:
- The Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2021: Tribunals are essentially courts for specific purposes (like for e.g. dealing with Land, rent disputes etc.) were introduced by Indira G during the 42nd Constitutional Amendment(passed during emergency) when all opposition was in Jail. Tribunals were in a way a parallel judiciary which had their own appellate structure and controlled by the Govt as judges were appointed by the Govt. For a healthy democracy, it is important that Judiciary and Executive should remain separate. Tribunals defeated the purpose. Modi Govt. in this Bill, did not abolish the tribunals, but made the appeals from all tribunals to the High Courts or other Courts. This will bring the tribunals under control of judiciary. On top of that, the Judges would be appointed by a Search Committee comprising of Judges of Supreme Court and officials from Govt. Govt may extend this system to all other tribunals. This is being opposed especially by Bollywood who will find it tougher to find the Jihadi movies cleared by High Court once the Appeal goes there.
- Inland Vessels Bill, 2021: The cost of transporting goods is very high in India due to congested road and rail. This bill is one step in the direction in promoting waterways. The Bill would enable vessels to move seamlessly all over India by making and uniform law. Earlier due to differences between the laws of states, ships could not move seamlessly. For e.g., after the law implemented, a ship carrying cars can start off Chennai port, move to Bay of Bengal, enter Kolkata Port and travel to Varanasi through Ganga and deliver the cars to a wholesaler without stopping anywhere.
- The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Sonia Gandhi during UPA 2 reign had made changes in IT Act to tax any transaction retrospectively. I.e. any sale and purchase of a company done in 1960 can also be taxed by Govt. Typically all tax laws are applied prospectively (i.e. from the day law is enacted) but this law did the opposite. This had created a lot of discontent among foreign and Indian investors. This law removes that provision, and will hence give tax certainty/confidence to investors. Many foreign investors found the earlier change in law cumbersome, random and anti-business.
- The Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2021: Just as Companies, Limited Liability Partnerships(LLPs) are also another type of corporate entity. This Amendment will make it easier for LLPs to operate by reducing Jail term and fines in many minor offenses. But it does also increase punishment in case of fraud and Cheating. This Amendment will help mainly startups and existing LLPs to do business freely and fearlessly.
- The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021: This Amendment simplifies the Insolvency process (the resolution process after a company defaults a loan and the loan becomes a Non Performing Asset) for MSMEs who have not defrauded the Bank or in other words non Siphoned off the loan. This Amendment will greatly help the honest owners of MSMEs to sustain the blow they have been received due to loss of business during COVID19.
Many other laws have been cleared in the Monsoon session amidst din, but the above 5 laws are the important ones and will have a long term impact on the Indian Society.
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