Centre, states should undertake law reforms: Madhava menon

Member of Commission on Centre-State Relations N R Madhava Menon opined that the Centre and states should undertake comprehensive law reforms to tide over the dysfunctionality between the Constitutional tenets and the Indian Statute Book. Inaugurating a seminar on ‘Law Reforms as an Instrument of Social Engineering’, Mr Menon said ‘unless comprehensive law reform is undertaken by the Centre and states on a war-footing, a number of archaic and outdated laws will govern our lives for a long time to come’. He noted that even after 60 years of freedom, there was a certain dysfunctionality between the Constitution and the legal system de to historical reasons. Spelling out the reasons, Mr Menon said ‘we let the entire lot of colonial laws to continue to govern us even after we became independent Republic until they are amended or repealed.’ He said there was no conscious effort to look comprehensively on the pre-independence laws to bring them in tune with the Constitutional philosophy, fundamental rights and directive principles. Reiterating the importance of law reforms, Mr Menon said the demand for law reform would grow stronger and louder de to the changes in the polity and economy. He said law reform was inevitable as life keeps changing and it was the only solution to provide equality to all as enshrined in the Constitution. Mr Menon also advocated people-oriented law reform outside the conventional incremental law reform, in which the initiative of the law reform lies with the people or the activists among them. ‘The motivation in the people-oriented law reform was the removal of suffering and injustice in society and the object was social engineering or directed social change. on uniform civil code, Mr Menon said those opposing the code were dishonest to the Constitution as it enshrines equality to all. Delivering the presidential address, retired judge V R Krishna Iyer, who is the Chairman of the Kerala Law Reforms Commission, said as law governs rule of life and life had changed over the years law reforms were imperative. ‘The world has changed and law reforms were the method for a peaceful progress for any country,’ he noted. He said the law reforms should be undertaken scientifically and not on an ad hoc basis to usher in social engineering.

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