The latest Jan Vishwas Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on March 27, has proposed significant decriminalisation measures across offences related to the export of textiles, handloom and agricultural products, with a shift towards monetary penalties and warnings in place of imprisonment.
The proposed amendments reflect a broader policy push towards reducing criminal liability for business-related offences and promoting ease of doing business through a compliance-based regulatory approach, a ToI report (by Sidhartha) said.
Under the Textiles Committee Act, provisions that currently prescribe a jail term of up to one year for exporting or selling textiles or textile machinery in violation of prescribed orders are set to be removed. The proposed framework replaces imprisonment with a warning for the first contravention, while subsequent violations could attract a penalty of up to Rs 25 lakh.
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Similarly, under the Handlooms (Reservation of Articles for Production) Act, offences such as failure to furnish information or samples, submission of false information, damaging books of account, or refusal to produce records will no longer invite a jail term of up to three months. Instead, these violations would be subject to fines ranging between Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000.
Parallel changes have been proposed under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act. General contraventions under the law, which currently attract imprisonment and fines, are proposed to be dealt with through warnings and financial penalties.Violations involving the import or export of scheduled agricultural products in breach of prescribed orders — currently punishable with up to one year in jail along with a fine — are set to be converted into monetary penalties of Rs 10,000 or twice the value of the goods, whichever is higher.
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Additionally, imprisonment and fines for failure to produce books and records, as well as for obstructing officials, are proposed to be removed.
In a related amendment under the Handlooms Act, producing items reserved exclusively for handlooms will see a reduction in imprisonment from six months to three months, while fines are proposed to be increased from Rs 5,000 per loom to between Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000 per loom.
The Bill also proposes to omit penalties related to the export of coir products without a licence or in contravention of the Sea Customs Act, 1878, which currently carries a fine of up to Rs 500.