'Faux pas': Haryana enacted law to change name of 4 Central Acts

Pradeep Sharma

Chandigarh, February 20

Can a state Legislative Assembly change the name of any Central Act without seeking the approval of the Central Government?

The answer may be no, but the Haryana Assembly has performed this task.

In March, 2021, the Haryana Assembly passed the Haryana Short Titles (Amendment) Bill, 2021, after which it got the assent of the then Governor, Satyadev Narain Arya, on March, 31, 2021, and, consequently, it became the Haryana Act 15 of 2021 and was enforced with effect from April 5, 2021.

The Act substitutes the words Punjab and East Punjab with Haryana in Short Titles in total 154 laws which were enacted before November 1, 1966 ie before the formation of separate Haryana state which was carved out of the joint Punjab through the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966.

For example, the name of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914, got changed to the Haryana Excise Act, 1914. However, even after such change, it would still be cited as the Punjab Act 1 of 1914 as the citation of the law via Act number and the year remains unchanged. Even otherwise, the above Act cannot be termed as the Haryana Act 1 of 1914 since Haryana came into existence only with effect from November 1, 1966.

Meanwhile, when an advocate at the Punjab and Haryana High Court Hemant Kumar, in December, 2021 checked Short Titles of all 154 laws where the words Punjab and East Punjab got substituted with the word Haryana, he came across 4 number of laws which, though bear the name Punjab, but actually are not Punjab Acts, but rather Central Acts viz the Punjab Laws Act, 1872, the Punjab District Boards Act, 1883, the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887 and the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887.

In Schedule to above Haryana Short Titles (Amendment) Act, 2021, the above four Acts have, however, been mentioned as Punjab Act 4 of 1872, Punjab Act 20 of 1883, Punjab Act 16 of 1887 and Punjab Act 17 of 1887, respectively. However, Hemant asserts that when he checked the official website of the Legislative Department under the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, he saw above four Acts shown as Central Acts.

He filed an RTI application with the Legislative Department under the Union Ministry of Law and Justice in December, 2021, seeking information in this regard. The department transferred his RTI plea to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which is the nodal Ministry to deal with amendments by states in Central laws.

Haryana Act 15, 2021

In March, 2021, the Haryana Assembly passed the Haryana Short Titles (Amendment) Bill, 2021, after which it got assent of then Governor, Satyadev Narain Arya, on 31st March, 2021 and consequently it became Haryana Act 15 of 2021 and was enforced with effect from April 5, 2021