Jan Vishwas Bill: Commerce Ministry wants departments to consider withdrawing cases involving minor offences

The Commerce and Industry Ministry wants all the departments to consider withdrawing pending court cases involving minor offences in light of Jan Vishwas amendment bill, as it would significantly reduce load on the judiciary and promote ease of living, a top official said on Friday (April 3, 2026).

Parliament on Thursday (April 2) passed the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026, to amend 784 provisions in 79 central laws for decriminalising and rationalising about 1,000 minor offences to further improve the business environment and check harassment of people.

“Because of the changes which are coming up in the law, there is a greater case that in all these provisions, a review can be taken up. We will also be taking up with the law ministry and work out how it can be conveyed to the concerned departments,” Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Amardeep Singh Bhatia told reporters in New Delhi.

As part of the general drive to reduce load on the courts, he said, the government has advised all departments to review pending cases and withdraw the prosecution wherever possible.

“There is a general advisory which is already there to review all pending cases and wherever the departments feel that they need to be withdrawn as they are not very critical offences, they can file with the court to withdraw that,” he added.

Addressing the media on the passage of the bill, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said as per estimates, there are five crore pending court cases relating to minor offences, majority of which should have never gone to the courts.

“We hope that these all can be resolved by the prosecutors by asking the courts to just close them on the basis of the new provisions so that a big relief can be given to past cases…It will be our request to the courts to take decision on those minor offences and end that,” Mr. Goyal said.

He said “these 1,000 sections in some way or the other, some place or the other , nationally, regionally, were a source of uncertainty, source of potential rent seeking and harassment. We have removed all of that”.

The Minister also said that the government is open to more suggestions to even further re-looking at all the laws at the central government level.

“12 states have come out with their own versions of Jan Vishwas bills, decriminalising state laws and I would encourage the rest of the States to follow the suit and consider decriminalising petty offences,” he added.

The Bill proposes to remove imprisonment in 57 provisions and fines in 158 provisions. Also, imprisonment is proposed to be reduced in 17 provisions, and imprisonment and fine are proposed to be converted to a penalty in 113 provisions.

It also proposes 67 amendments under the New Delhi Municipal Council Act, 1994, and the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, to facilitate ease of living.

Mr. Goyal expressed hope that municipal bodies in other states would take cues from these proposed changes and amend their laws to promote ease of living.

Further, Mr. Bhatia said that penalties have been prescribed only for the first offence of violating standards of air pollution, but driving license will be suspended for three months.

But stricter provisions will apply for subsequent violations, he added.

Similarly for noise pollution also, it has been decriminalised for the first offence, with only a warning issued, while the usual provisions will apply for subsequent violations.