New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said there should be periodic legislative reviews of laws to check the efficacy and deficiencies in the implementation.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh made the remark while hearing a plea of former Union minister Maneka Gandhi against the 45-day limit imposed for filing election petitions under the Representation of the People Act.
“Whenever a new law is enacted, there should be its legislative review from time to time. Reviews should not only be confined to judicial reviews but there should be even legislative review. You may have it every 20 years, 25 years or say 50 years, it will help in examining the shortcomings, if any,” the bench said.
The apex court, which refused to examine Gandhi’s plea on the ground that it couldn’t legislate and open floodgates, said there should be an expert body which could undertake the review and flag deficiencies and grey areas.
Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, who represented Gandhi, agreed with the court’s view and said there should be an audit of legislation.
“We can’t have legislation that is cast in stone. That unless a stimulus comes either from the court or otherwise and then there is an amendment,” he said.
