No trial for minor violations; 28 Acts decriminalised so far

Chandigarh, September 8

The Haryana Government has taken steps to decriminalise certain laws and Acts. The objective of this exercise is to improve the ease of doing business and ease of living for citizens by reducing burdensome compliances prescribed in the Acts/rules. The exercise aims to simplify, digitise, decriminalise, and rationalise compliances.

Presiding over a meeting today, Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal directed all Administrative Secretaries to submit a report on the decriminalisation of laws and Acts in their respective departments within a fortnight.

Additionally, the departments have been tasked with reviewing 319 Acts to identify provisions that could be decriminalised. Kaushal said the objective was to avoid registering FIRs, imprisoning people, or putting them on trial for minor violations. Instead of treating them as criminal acts, they might be treated as civil offences or regulated through administrative measures, fines, or other non-criminal penalties.

The goal was to foster a business- and industry-friendly environment in the state, recognising that certain minor transgressions might occur as part of regular work and should not be categorised as criminal offences. He said so far, 28 Acts had been decriminalised.

Since the inception of “Reducing Compliance Burden Exercise”, Haryana had reduced the burden of over 500 compliances, including the decriminalisation of Acts across departments, he added.