President's assent to four Bills

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 7. The President has given his assent to the Vaccination (Repeal) Bill, the UP Sugarcane Cess (Validation) (Repeal) Bill, the Post- Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh (Amendment) Bill and the Industrial Disputes (Banking Companies) Decision (Repeal) Bill passed during the winter session of Parliament. They have been notified as Acts 16, 17, 18 and 19 and come into force with immediate effect.

The Vaccination Repeal Act seeks to repeal the Vaccination Act, 1880, which has outlived its utility as recommended by the PC Jain Commission on reforms in administrative laws.

The UP sugarcane Act seeks to repeal the UP Sugarcane Cess (Validation) Act, 1961 as the original Act has outlived its utility.

The PGIMER Act seeks to amend the principal Act of 1966 to terminate the nomination/election of two Members of Parliament from Lok Sabha and one MP from Rajya Sabha on the Council of the Institute in case of their elevation as Minister, Minister of State, Deputy Minister, Speaker, Deputy Speaker or Deputy Chairman on the pattern of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

The Industrial Disputes repeal Act seeks to repeal the principal Act of 1955 pursuant to the recommendations of the PC Jain Commission.

Electricity Bill passed

PTI, UNI report:

Parliament gave its approval for amending the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act, 1998 after the Rajya Sabha passed the relevant bill for this purpose.

The Electricity Regulatory Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2001, already passed by the Lok Sabha, would enable the Government to set up inter-State or regional regulatory commissions to sort out the issue of electricity tariffs between various States.

Replying to the brief discussion, the Power Minister, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, assured the house that a comprehensive Bill would be brought before Parliament soon for restructuring the power sector to make it not only commercially viable but also to enable it to provide electricity to the people in rural and urban areas at an affordable tariff.

LS okays FCI Bill

The Lok Sabha approved a Bill removing the cap on borrowings by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to facilitate additional procurement of foodgrains.

Replying to the debate on the Bill, the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Mr. Shanta Kumar, said with the approach of the procurement season in October, the Government was making arrangements for the storage of 140 lakh tonnes of foodgrains likely to be generated.

The States had been informed that they should only lift foodgrains which were edible and bring to the notice of the Centre any shortcomings in the foodgrains supplied to them.

CCP Bill introduced

A bill to remove the ceiling of Rs. 500 per month as maintenance allowance for an applicant filing application in a court under Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by the Law and Justice Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley.

``In view of the cost of living index centrally rising, retention of a maximum ceiling is not justified,'' says the Bill, adding it would require periodic revision taking into account the inflation and rise in the cost of living.

The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2001 seeks to amend Section 125 and make consequential changes in Section 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to remove the ceiling of maintenance allowance.

It says express provisions should be made in the said code for interim maintenance allowance to the aggrieved person.

Marriage Bill moved

The Marriage Law (Amendment) Bill, 2001 that proposes to speed up divorce cases within 60 days while removing the upper cap of Rs. 500 for maintenance of divorced women was also taken up for consideration.

Piloting the Bill, Mr. Jaitley said the amendment was being taken up to be passed in the House to expedite legal procedures.

It had also been proposed that in the provisions of alimony, expenses on legal proceedings and education and medical expenditure of children would be included.

Mr. Kapil Sibal (Congress) said that the maintenance must include cost of living index. Mr. B.P. Apte (BJP) said the judge must be made accountable for the delays.

357 legislation repealed in one go

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