The recent Monsoon Session of Parliament is proof that the speed of passing laws trumps their rigorous scrutiny in our legislative process. These pages have been replete with statistics about the two Houses passing laws in the din in a matter of minutes. Our national legislature has similarly enacted laws even during previous administrations. The repetition of such legislative functioning is appalling, especially as both government and Parliament continue making the same mistake. In our parliamentary system, a majority of laws originate from the government. Each ministry decides the path its legislative proposals will take from ideation to enactment. For example, last year, the Shipping Ministry requested public feedback on the two bills — Marine Aids and Inland Vessels— it piloted during this session. This mechanism enables the strengthening of the legal proposal through stakeholder inputs before being brought to Parliament. However, ministries expedite their bills by not putting them through a similar pre-legislative scrutiny process. Read More