Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission Act, 2010
[U.P. Act 10 of 2010] [5th March, 2010]
CONTENTS
Chapter-I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title extent and commencement
2. Definitions
Chapter-III
THE STATE LAW COMMISSION
3. Constitution of the Commission
4. Term of office, salary and allowance and other conditions of service
5. Resignation removal of Chairperson or a Full-time Member of the Commission
Chapter-III
FUNCTIONS AND POWERS OF THE COMMISSION
6. Function and Powers of the Commission
7. Secretary
8. Staff of the Commissions
Chapter-IV
FINANCE, ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT
9. Grants by the State Government
10. Accounts and Audit
11. Annual report
12. Annual and other Reports and audit report to be laid before State Legislature
Chapter-V
MISCELLANEOUS
13. Chairperson, Members, Secretary and Staff of Commission to be public servants
14. State Government to consult the Commission
15. Protection of action taken in good faith
16. Power to make rules
17. Power to remove difficulty
18. Repeal and Savings
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS———
An Act to provide for the Constitution of a State Law Commission in the State for identifying the matters for the reform of State Laws and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
It is hereby enacted in the Sixty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
Chapter-I
PRELIMINARY
## Section 1. Short title extent and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission Act, 2010.
(2) It extends to whole of Uttar Pradesh.
(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on January 28, 2008.
## Section 2. Definitions.—In this Act,—
(a) “Chairperson” means the Chairperson of the Commission appointed under clause (a) of sub-section (4) of Section 3;
(b) “Commission” means the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission constituted under Section 3;
(c) “Consultant” means a person appointed as such under sub-section (5) of Section 3; (d) “Full-time Member” means a Full-Time Member appointed under clause (b) of sub-section (4) of Section 3;
(e) “Government” means the State Government of Uttar Pradesh;
(f) “Part-time Member” means a Part-time Member of the Commission appointed under clause (c) of sub-section (4) of Section 3;
(g) “Secretary” means the Secretary appointed under Section 7;
(h) “Substantive appointment” means an appointment not being an ad-hoc appointment on a post in the cadre of service made after selection in accordance with the rules and, if there are no rules, in accordance with the procedure prescribed for the time being by executive instructions issued by the Government;
(i) “State” means the State of Uttar Pradesh.
Chapter-III
THE STATE LAW COMMISSION
## Section 3. Constitution of the Commission.—(1) The State Government shall, by notification, constitute a body to be known as the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission to perform the functions autonomously assigned to it under this Act.
(2) The Commission shall consist of—
(i) The Chairperson One
(ii) Full-time Member T wo
(iii) Part-time Member T wo
(iv) Secretary One
(3) The Head Quarter of the Commission shall be at Lucknow and its camp office shall be at Allahabad or at any other place notified from time to time by the State Government.
(4) The Chairperson and the Members shall be appointed as follows by the State Government:—
(a) the Chairperson shall be a person who has been a Chief Justice or a Judge of a High Court;
(b) a Full-time Member shall be a person who has been a Member of the Uttar Pradesh Higher Judicial Service in selection grade scale or above having at least 25 years of judicial experience and having specialized experience in Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs;
(c) a Part-time Member shall be a distinguished jurist or Legal expert or law academician, or Law Professor or a person having specialized and expertise knowledge in the matters referred to in Section 6;
(d) the Chairperson and the Full-time Members shall perform the function on whole-time basis from the date they assume office.
(5) The Chairperson may, as and when required, appoint two or more consultant to assist the Commission, depending on the nature of topics taken up by the Commission suo-motu or referred to it, till the completion of work on such topics.
## Section 4. Term of office, salary and allowance and other conditions of service.—(1) Every person appointed as the Chairperson or a Full-time Member shall hold office for a term of six years from the date on which he assumes office, or upto the date of his attaining 68 years of age, whichever is earlier.
(2) The Part-time Member shall hold office during the pleasure of the State Government.
(3) If the office of the Chairperson or a Full-time Members becomes vacant, or if the Chairperson or a Full-time Member is by any reason whatsoever, unable to perform the duties of his office, such duties shall until some other person appointed under Section 3 enters upon such office or, as the case may be, until the Chairperson or such member resumes his duties, be performed:—
(a) where the office of the Chairperson becomes vacant or where he is unable to perform the duties of his office, by such Full-time Member as the State Government may by order direct;
(b) where the office of a Full-time member becomes vacant or where he is unable to perform the duties of his office, by the Chairperson himself, or if the Chairperson so directs, by the other Full-time Member or, as the case may be, such one of the other Full-time Members as may be specified in the direction.
(4) There shall be paid to the Chairperson or a Full-time Member such salaries as may be prescribed.
(5) The allowances and pension, if any payable to, and other conditions of service of the Chairperson or a Full-time Member shall be such as may be prescribed:
Provided that in prescribing the salary, allowances and pension payable to and other conditions of service of the Chairperson, regard shall be had to the salary, allowances and pension payable to and other conditions of service, of the Chief Justice of High Court:
Provided further that if the Chairperson or a Full-time Member at the time of his appointment is in receipt of a pension (other than a disability or wound pension) in respect of any previous service under the Government of India or under the Government of a State, his salary in respect of services as the Chairperson or, a Full-time Member as the case may be, shall be reduced—
(a) by the amount of that pension; and
(b) if he has, before such appointment, received in lieu of a portion of the pension due to him in respect of such previous service the commuted value thereof, by the amount of that portion of the pension; and
(c) if he has, before such appointment, received a retirement gratuity in respect of such previous service, by the pension equivalent of that gratuity:
Provided also that the salary, allowances and pension, if any, payable to, and other conditions of service of the Chairperson or a Full-time Member shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.
(6) The Part-time Member shall be paid such honorarium as may be prescribed.
(7) The Consultant shall be paid such remuneration as may be prescribed.
(8) The status and administrative powers of the Chairperson and the Full-time Member shall be such as may be prescribed.
(9) The provisions of sub-sections (1), (4) and (5) shall apply also to the Chairperson and Full-time Member holding office on the commencement of this Act.
## Section 5. Resignation removal of Chairperson or a Full-time Member of the Commission.—(1) The Chairperson or a Full-time Member may, by notice in writing under his hand addressed to the Governor, resign his office.
(2) The Chairperson may be removed from the office by order of the Governor on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity after the Supreme Court, on reference being made to it by the Governor, has, on inquiry, reported that the Chairperson ought on any such ground to be removed. The Full-time Member may be removed from the office by the State Government with the concurrence of the Chairperson on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.
(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in sub-section (2), the Governor may by order remove from office, the Chairperson or a full-time Member, if he,—
(a) has been adjudged an insolvent; or
(b) is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for an offence which, in the opinion of the Governor, involves moral turpitude; or
(c) is unfit to continue in office by reason of infirmity of mind or body; or
(d) engages during his term of office in any paid employment out side the duties of the office; or
(e) has so abused his position as to render his continuance in office prejudicial to the public interest.
(4) If the Chairperson or a Full-time Member in any way, concerned or interested in any contract or agreement made by or on behalf of the Government of the State or participates in any way in the profit thereof or in any benefit or, emoluments arising therefrom otherwise than as a Chairperson or a Full-time Member he shall, for the purpose of sub-section (2), be deemed to be guilty of misbehaviour.
Chapter-III
FUNCTIONS AND POWERS OF THE COMMISSION
## Section 6. Function and Powers of the Commission.—(1) It shall be the duty of the Commission to take and keep under review all the laws of the State with a view to its systematic development and reform, including in particular the codification of such law, the elimination of anomalies, the repeal of obsolete and unnecessary enactments, the reduction of the number of separate enactments and generally, the simplification and modernization of the law, and for that purpose—
(a) to receive and consider any proposals for the reform of the law which may be made or referred to it by the State Government or the Supreme Court or the High Court in judicial side;
(b) to prepare and submit to the State Government from time to time programmes for the examination of different branches of the law with a view to reform, including recommendations as to the agency (whether the Commission or another body) by which any such examination should be carried out;
(c) to undertake pursuant to any recommendations approved by the State Government, the examination of particular branches of the law and the formulation, by means of draft Bills or otherwise, of proposals for reform therein;
(d) to prepare from time to time at the request of the State Government comprehensive programmes of consolidation and statute law revision, and to undertake the preparation of draft Bills pursuant, to any such programmes approved by the State Government.
(e) to provide advice and information to the State Government departments and other authorities or bodies concerned at the instance of the State Government with proposal for the reform or amendment of any branch of the law;
(f) to obtain such information as to the legal systems of other States, Central Government or other countries as appears to the Commission likely to facilitate the performance of any of its functions;
(g) to take up matter suo-moto regarding the function of the commission.
(2) The State Government, within a reasonable time, shall consider any programmes prepared and submitted by the Commission and any proposals for reform formulated by the Commission pursuant to such programmes.
(3) The Commission shall make an annual report to the State Government on its proceedings.
(4) The Commission shall perform such other functions as may be prescribed.
(5) The Commission shall regulate its own procedure.
## Section 7. Secretary.—(1) There shall be a Secretary of the Commission who shall be a sitting Additional District Judge to be appointed by the State Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad and Chairperson of the Commission.
(2) The Secretary shall be the Drawing and Disbursing Officer with respect to the establishment of the Commission. He shall exercise his financial and administrative powers with the prior approval of the Chairperson and shall also assist the Chairperson and the Members in all respect.
(3) The terms and conditions of service, the status and administrative powers of the Secretary shall be such as may be prescribed.
(4) The Secretary shall also perform such other functions as may be prescribed.
## Section 8. Staff of the Commissions.—(1) The Secretary shall, on all sanctioned post by the State Government, appoint such officers and other employees to assist the Commission in the discharge of its functions under this Act with the prior approval of the Chairperson:
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall be construed to prevent any person who holds a post under the Central or any other State Government from being appointed on deputation with the consent of the State Government and the Chairperson.
(2) The number and categories of officers and employees who may be substantively appointed under sub-section (1), their salaries, allowances and other conditions of service, shall be such as may be determined by general or special order of the State Government.
(3) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (1), the Chairperson may for the purpose of discharging his functions under this Act utilize the services of—
(i) any officer of a State or the Central Government with the concurrence of the Government;
(ii) any other person or agency.
Chapter-IV
FINANCE, ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT
## Section 9. Grants by the State Government.—(1) The State Government shall, after due appropriation made by the State Legislature by law in this behalf, pay to the Commission by way of grants such sums of money as the State Government may think fit for being utilized for the purposes of this Act.
(2) The Commission may spend such sums as it thinks fit for performing the functions under this Act, The property purchased by the Commission from such sums shall vest
in it and such sums of money shall be treated as expenditure payable out of the grants referred to in sub-section (1).
## Section 10. Accounts and Audit.—(1) The Commission shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts in such form as may be prescribed.
(2) A copy of the annual statement of accounts shall be submitted to the State Government which shall cause the same to be audited.
## Section 11. Annual report.—The Commission shall prepare annual report for each financial year, in such form and at such time; as may be prescribed, giving a full account of its activities during that financial year and forward a copy thereof to the State Government.
## Section 12. Annual and other Reports and audit report to be laid before State Legislature.—The State Government shall cause the annual report, together with memorandum of action taken on the recommendations contained therein and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if any, of any of each recommendation and the audit report to be laid as soon as possible after the reports are received, before each House of the State Legislature.
Chapter-V
MISCELLANEOUS
## Section 13. Chairperson, Members, Secretary and Staff of Commission to be public servants.—The Chairperson, the Members, the Secretary, other officers and employees of the Commission shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
## Section 14. State Government to consult the Commission.—The State Government may consult the Commission on such legal matters as it considers necessary.
## Section 15. Protection of action taken in good faith.—No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any son of the Commission for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done, in pursuance of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder.
## Section 16. Power to make rules.—(1) The State Government may, by notification, make rules to carry out the provisions of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the salaries payable to the Chairperson and the Full-time Members under sub-section (4) of Section 4;
(b) the allowances and pension payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service, of the Chairperson and the Full-time Members under sub-section (5) of Section 4;
(c) an honorarium payable to a Part-time Member under sub-section (6) of Section 4;
(d) the remuneration payable to a Consultant under sub-section (7) of Section 4;
(e) the status and administrative powers of the Chairperson and the Full-time Members under sub-section (8) of Section 4;
(f) other function of the Commission under sub-section (4) of Section 6;
(g) the terms and conditions of service, the status and administrative powers of the Secretary under sub-section (3) of Section 7;
(h) other function of the Secretary under sub-section (4) of Section 7;
(i) the number and categories of officers and employees, their salaries, allowances and other terms and conditions of service under sub-section (2) of Section 8;
(j) the form in which the annual statement of accounts is prepared under sub-section (1) of Section 10;
(k) the form in which the annual report shall be prepared under Section 11;
(l) any other matter which is required to be, or may be prescribed.
## Section 17. Power to remove difficulty.—(1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the State Government, may by a notified order, make such provisions, not in consistent with the provisions of this Act as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty.
(2) No order under sub-section (1) shall be made after the expiration of a period of two years from the commencement of this Act.
(3) Every order made under Sub-section (1) shall be laid, as soon as may be before each House of the State Legislature and the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 23-A of the Uttar Pradesh General Clauses Act, 1904 shall apply as they apply in respect of rules made by the State Government under any Uttar Pradesh Act.
## Section 18. Repeal and Savings.—(1) The Government notification no. 166/79-Vi-1-08-9-08, dated January 28, 2008 is hereby rescinded.
(2) Notwithstanding such rescind, anything done or any action taken under the Government notification no. 166/79-Vi-1-08-9-08, dated January 28, 2008 and Further orders made thereunder shall be deemed to have been done or taken under this Act as if the provisions of this Act were in forte at all material times.
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS
The revision of Acts is a continuing process which has been needed for a long time. The Central Law Commission has been constituted by the Central Government for the revision, of Central Acts and for giving suggestions connected therewith which is a permanent institution and has been working for a long interval. The Central Law Commission had in its Fourteenth Report recommended for the constitution of State Law Commission in the States in pursuance of which Law Commissions had been established in many States. In Uttar Pradesh four State Law Commissions were constituted from time to time but since they were constituted by notifications and Government Orders for a fixed period, full advantage thereof could not be taken due to want of permanency. There were more than four hundred Acts of the State Legislature for the time being in force of which some had become redundant and amendments in various Acts were needed.
In the circumstance stated above the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission Act, 2005 (U.P . Act no. 3 of 2005) was enacted but since it was felt that the objectives for which the Law Commission was constituted were not fulfilled by the then Law Commission the said Act, was repealed by the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission (Repeal) Act, 2007 (U.P . Act no. 2 of 2007) with effect from June 2, 2007. Thereafter it was felt that the constitution of a Law Commission in the State for the said purpose is necessary so a State Law Commission has been constituted vide executive order no. 166/79-Vi-1-08-9-08, dated January 28, 2008. With a view to making the said Law Commission permanent it has been decided to make a law to provide for the constitution of a State Law Commission in the State for identifying the matters for the reform of State laws.
The Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission Bill, 2010 is introduced accordingly.
———
1. Passed by the Uttar Pradesh Legislature and assented to by the Governor on March 3, 2010.