 bill no 236 of  2018 the drafting of law in plain language bill, 2018 byshri rajeev satav, mp a billto establish a legal framework which mandates that all government bills and acts be drafted using plain, clear and concise language in order to maximize readability, eliminate ambiguity and ensure compliance through easy interpretation with a view to enhance citizens' access and understanding of laws of india and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:—1  (1) this act may be called the drafting of law in plain language act, 2018short title and commencement(2) it shall come into force on such a date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appoint52 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—definitions(a) "drafting agency" means any central government department, ministry or a third party, whether private or public that is tasked on behalf of the government of india to draft or amend a law;(b) "law" means central law and includes any central ordinance, order, by-law, rule regulation, notification, custom or usages having in the territory of india the force of law;5(c) "plain language" means a form of written expression which is characterized, but not limited to following features, namely:—(i) strives to be easy to read, comprehend and use by both lay persons and experts;(ii) avoids latin legal maxims, foreign vocabulary and archaic jargon when simple english equivalents are available;10(iii) when applied to legislative drafting, follows a logical flow where each statute, procedural and substantive clause is explained with utmost clarity and simplicity;(iv) when applied to legislative drafting, sticks to gender-neutral terms unless a specific provision or a whole law otherwise demands;15(v) follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience; and (d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act203 every ministry and department of the government of india shall strive to draft laws in plain language to the largest possible extent to ensure that the implications and purpose of the law are understood by the widest possible audienceplain drafting language by the ministries and departments4 the drafting agency shall eliminate any ambiguity or confusion by clearly clarifying the intended meaning of each lawdrafting agency to eliminate ambiguity in law255 (1) the union ministry of law and justice shall create, maintain and regularly update a comprehensive document called the "legislative drafting manual" to lay down the principles and guidelines to use plain language while drafting a lawministry of law and justice to maintain legislature drafting manual(2) notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, it shall be mandatory for the drafting agency to implement the guidelines issued under legislative drafting manual while drafting or amending an existing law30(3) the legislative drafting manual shall be made available publicly on the website of ministry of law and justice and a hardcopy shall be made available to every ministry and department of the central government in such manner as may be prescribed6 the legislative drafting manual shall have guidelines on the following aspects but not limited to:—guidelines for the legislative drafting manual(a) restricting the usage of long winding paragraphs and superfluous language;35(b) promoting the drafting of gender-neutral laws; (c) avoiding the usage of latin legal maxims and other foreign language terms and promoting the usage of the plain english equivalents terms;| (                                                         | d   | ) drafting and accessible clause which encompasses only one legal idea;   ||-----------------------------------------------------------|-----|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|| (                                                         | e   | ) minimise use of cross referencing techniques;                           || 40                                                        |     |                                                                           || (                                                         | f   | ) promoting the use of clear, simple and compact definitions to improve   || readability and to ensure better compliance with the law; |     |                                                                           |(g) logical flow of the law which ensure that all the substantive clauses are laid down unequivocally before the procedural aspect is defined 7 (1) the ministry of law and justice, legislative and legal affairs department shall provide legal and drafting assistance to every department and ministry of the central government which are in the process of drafting a new law or amendment to a law5ministry of law and justice to provide legal and drafting assistance(2) the legislative and legal affairs departments shall ensure that the standards defined in the legislative drafting manual and maintained and principles of plain language drafting are integrated right at the very beginning of the process of drafting a new law108 the provisions of this act shall have effect notwithstanding inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in forceoverriding effect of the actpower to make rules9 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this act15 20(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement  of  objects  and  reasonsjustice james stephen, the author of the indian evidence act (1872), once remarked:''it is not enough to attain a degree of precision which a person reading in good faith can understand; but it is necessary to attain, if possible, a degree of precision which a person reading in bad faith cannot misunderstand this statement is still as relevant today as it was over one hundred and twenty years ago, when it first surfaced in 1891legal writing has been often criticized for being unnecessarily complex, superfluous and more importantly unintelligible to the common citizen and sometimes even to the people well versed with it the repercussions are even graver when this writing takes the form of legislative writing legislations are of deep importance in a democratic system they shape up everything, right from an individual's behavior to the degree of efficiency with which a society will work it is imperative that every common citizen be able to gauge the meanings and implications of laws that affect them this basic right, therefore, should not be limited to a select few with formal legal trainingclear, concise and well-articulated legislation which avoids unnecessary usage of provisos, archaic jargon and tedious legalese paves way for better understanding by the citizens, enforcement by the executive and proper interpretation by the judiciarythese basic tenets lie at the heast of the 'plain language movement' which has been positively altering the face of legislative drafting since the 1970s and saving time, money and public resources the effect has been more pronounced in countries like australia, ireland, new zealand etc which are based on the english common lawthe honorable supreme court in 1976 observed that: "we cannot but deplore the clumsy draftmanship displayed in a statute which affects the common man in his daily bread it is unfortunate that easy comprehensibility and simplicity for the laity are discarded sometimes through over-sophisticated scholarship in the art of drawing up legislative bills it cannot be overstressed that a new orientation for drafting methodology adopting directness of language and avoiding involved reference and obscurity is overdue"the principle of rule of law presupposes that those who are affected by a law should be in a position to ascertain its meaning and effect therefore, plain language drafting is the need of the hour to facilitate strengthening the rule of law and ensure better accessibility & participation of the citizens of the countryhence this billnew delhi;rajeev satavnovember 26, 2018 memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 9 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto establish a legal framework which mandates that all government bills and acts bedrafted using plain, clear and concise language in order to maximize readability,eliminate ambiguity and ensure compliance through easy interpretationwith a view to enhance citizens' access and understanding of laws ofindia and for matters connected therewith————(shri rajeev satav, mp)mgipmrnd—2322ls(s3)—20-12-2018