The Repealing and Amending Act, 2015

Summary of the Repealing and Amending (Second) Act, 2015
Objectives of the Act
• To repeal obsolete, redundant, and spent Central Acts that no longer serve any practical purpose.
• To make minor consequential amendments to existing laws, including corrections of statutory references, drafting errors, and inconsistencies.
• To simplify and modernise the corpus of Central legislation.
• To improve the clarity, accessibility, and efficiency of the legal framework.
Key Provisions
• Repeal of Enactments: The Act repeals a number of Central Acts and amending Acts that had become obsolete, fully implemented, superseded, or otherwise unnecessary.
• Consequential Amendments: It makes limited amendments to certain existing enactments to update references, rectify drafting errors, and ensure consistency in statutory language.
• Saving Clause: The repeal of any enactment does not affect its previous operation or any rights, obligations, liabilities, penalties, investigations, or legal proceedings arising under it, unless expressly provided otherwise.
• Schedules: The Acts repealed and the amendments made are specified in the Schedules to the Act.

Legislative History:

The Repealing and Amending Act, 2015

Short Title The Repealing and Amending Act, 2015

Act Number / Year Act No. 17 of 2015

India Code Act ID 201517

Presidential Assent Date May 13, 2015

Enforcement Date May 13, 2015

Nodal Ministry Ministry of Law and Justice

Precedent & Statutory Rationale

1. Clearing Obsolete and Spent Laws from the Statute Book:

o Over decades of lawmaking, India's legal repositories accumulated thousands of redundant statutes, including colonial-era measures no longer applicable, standalone amendment acts whose core provisions had already been merged into principal acts, and spent temporary measures. This clutter created legal ambiguity for citizens, judiciary, and administrative bodies.

2. Enhancing Legislative Clarity and Ease of Governance:

o Grounded in overarching administrative reform initiatives to reduce regulatory burdens and improve the ease of doing business, the legislation formed part of a systematic central drive launched in 2014 to identify and repeal archaic or dead-letter laws.

Parliamentary Trajectory & Enactment

• Formulation: Developed and piloted by the Legislative Department under the Ministry of Law and Justice to streamline central enactments.

• Parliamentary Passage: Originally introduced in the Lok Sabha as the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2014, on August 11, 2014; reviewed closely by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice; and subsequently passed by the Lok Sabha on March 18, 2015, and the Rajya Sabha on May 5, 2015.

• Presidential Assent: Received formal Presidential Assent on May 13, 2015, entering the statute book as Act No. 17 of 2015.

• Enforcement: Enforced on May 13, 2015.

• Source: India Code Official Repository and Ministry of Law and Justice Official Records