(Not) Made In India

Despite successive governments scrapping thousands of archaic statutes that have no place in modern India, there are a few British relics that we continue to follow even today

- Madhavi Gokhlay

India achieved independence from the United Kingdom (UK) on August 15, 1947, but the colonial legacy lives on in our love for chai and cricket, and on a heavier note, in our law and order system which is a direct import from the British.

Immediately after the country became independent, adopting a system that was homegrown yet understanding of the needs and beliefs of various castes, communities, and classes it sought to bring together was possibly the best way forward for the new government. As such, the laws that were in existence under the British rule continued well after they left, and while the Indian society adapted to most of them, there were some that survived like relics in a museum, having no relevance whatsoever to modern India. A case in point is the century-old statute levying toll tax of not more than two annas (a currency no longer in existence) on boats ferrying passengers across River Ganga.

As far back as 1955, the Law Commission of India suggested that a new legal system be adopted, junking useless British laws while retaining the more useful ones in a more Indian format. Since then, successive governments have weeded out as many as 1,301 obsolete laws to improve administration and ease of doing business. The Narendra Modi government achieved a record of sorts by scrapping as many as 1,200 redundant Acts in just three years, in addition to identifying 1,824 more obsolete Central Acts for repealing. The streamlining exercise notwithstanding, there are still at least five laws that owe their origin to the British but continue to be followed even today. Here’s looking at them.

The Dramatic Performance Act