Introduction:

Over the years, India’s legal and regulatory system has gathered a large number of rules that go beyond what criminal law is really meant for. Many of these provisions were written decades ago, in a very different socio-economic setting. Today, they often feel outdated, too harsh, or out of proportion to the actual offence. The persistence of such laws has led to a situation where individuals and businesses can be subjected to imprisonment not for acts of grave social harm, but for routine or technical lapses such as errors in compliance, minor defaults, or procedural oversights.

• This “over-criminalisation” creates several problems. It makes the environment uncertain and risky for businesses, discourages entrepreneurship, and weakens trust in regulators. At the systemic level, it also burdens India’s already strained judiciary, where millions of criminal cases are pending, many of them involving minor offences that could be better resolved through corrective or financial penalties.
• In this context, the Government of India has embarked on a reform initiative to rationalize and modernise the legal framework. The Jan Vishwas Bills are at the heart of this change. The first Bill, passed in 2023, decriminalized 183 provisions across 42 central laws. The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025 is the next big step. It expands reforms to 16 more central Acts and brings in important measures like:

·         replacing jail terms for minor violations with warnings and improvement notices,

·         rationalising penalties, and

·         focusing on financial or corrective action instead of imprisonment.

Reason for introducing Jan Vishwas Bill:

Overreach of Criminal Law

Research shows that India has a large and complex legal framework. A database prepared by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy records 882 central laws, of which 370 contain criminal provisions accounting for 7,305 crimes. Importantly, more than 75% of these crimes are defined under laws beyond core criminal justice areas, such as taxation, shipping, municipal governance, and financial institutions.

Such over-criminalisation has long been criticised because:

• It prescribes disproportionately high punishments for relatively routine or minor offences. For example, in India, a person can be arrested for milking a cow on the street or for not providing proper exercise to a pet dog.
• While such provisions are rarely enforced, they give scope for arbitrary use of power by authorities.
• They go against the principle of proportionality in crime and punishment.
• Many such laws reflect outdated notions of morality or a paternalistic outlook of the State.

Impact on Businesses

A 2022 Observer Research Foundation (ORF) report highlighted the impact of over-criminalisation on businesses in India. The report found:

• Of the 1,536 laws regulating business, more than half carry imprisonment clauses.
• Of the 69,233 compliances required, 37.8% involve imprisonment.
• More than half of the imprisonment clauses prescribe a minimum sentence of one year.

The report argued that such provisions have created barriers to the smooth flow of capital, ideas, entrepreneurship, and job creation, ultimately slowing economic growth.

Pressure on the Judicial System

Excessive criminalisation also adds to the burden on the judiciary. As per the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), on 24 August 2025, India’s district courts had:

• More than 3.6 crore pending criminal cases.
• Over 2.3 crore of these cases were pending for more than one year.

The Commerce Ministry, during the introduction of the 2023 Bill, had noted that criminal consequences for minor defaults “clog the justice delivery system and push serious cases to the back burner.” Decriminalisation, therefore, is expected to reduce pendency, ease pressure on courts, and improve the justice delivery process.

What does the 2025 Bill propose?

The Jan Vishwas Bill, 2025 proposes amendments to 355 provisions across 16 laws. Among these:

• 288 provisions are decriminalised to promote ease of doing business.
• 67 provisions are amended to promote ease of living.

Key Features of the Bill

1. Warnings and Improvement Notices: The Bill introduces the idea of “warnings” and “improvement notices” for first-time offenders in 76 offences under 10 Acts, including the Motor Vehicles Act, the Apprentice Act, and the Legal Metrology Act.

• Example: Under the Legal Metrology Act, use of non-standard weights and measures currently carries a penalty of up to ₹1 lakh. The Bill proposes that a first-time offender will instead receive an improvement notice directing them to rectify the mistake within a set time. If the offender fails to comply, they will face fines.

2. Removal of Imprisonment Clauses: The Bill removes imprisonment clauses for minor, procedural, or technical defaults. These will be replaced with fines or warnings.

• Example: Under the Electricity Act, 2003, non-compliance with orders currently carries a punishment of three months’ imprisonment. The Bill proposes replacing this with a monetary fine ranging from ₹10,000 to ₹10 lakh.

3. Rationalisation of Penalties: The Bill rationalises penalties to make them more proportionate and predictable. It introduces:

• Automatic 10% increase in penalties every three years to strengthen deterrence without requiring fresh legislative amendments.
• Higher fines for repeated offences, thereby discouraging habitual violators while avoiding imprisonment.

Implications of the Jan Vishwas Bill:

The Jan Vishwas Bills (2023 and 2025) are part of the government’s larger effort to simplify India’s legal architecture and make it more business- and citizen-friendly.

1.       Ease of Doing Business: By decriminalising 288 provisions, the Bill will reduce compliance-related risks for businesses, encourage entrepreneurship, and promote investment.

2.      Ease of Living: Citizens will no longer face harsh punishments for minor lapses, improving trust in governance.

3.      Judicial Relief: Decriminalisation of minor offences will reduce the burden on district courts, freeing up judicial time for serious crimes.

4.     Regulatory Simplification: Regularisation of penalties through automatic hikes will create predictability and reduce the need for frequent amendments.

Challenges and Criticisms

• Balancing deterrence and trust: While decriminalisation reduces harassment, critics caution that excessive leniency may encourage non-compliance.
• Implementation hurdles: Success depends on consistent application by regulatory authorities and effective awareness among businesses and citizens.
• Need for further reform: With 370 central laws still carrying criminal provisions, this is only the beginning of a longer process of legal rationalisation.

Conclusion

The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025 is another step in India’s effort to modernise its legal system. It makes changes to 355 provisions across 16 different laws, bringing in important reforms such as introducing warnings and improvement notices, replacing jail terms with monetary fines, and rationalising penalties to make them fairer. The aim is to build a system of governance that is more trust-based and citizen-friendly, rather than overly punitive.

If these changes are carried out well, the reform can increase business confidence, make everyday life easier for citizens, and reduce the burden on India’s already crowded judiciary. At the same time, its real success will depend on how well the government manages to strike a balance — between trusting citizens and still having enough deterrence to prevent violations. This will remain the key challenge for future reforms, including the possibility of Jan Vishwas 3.0 and beyond.