A great move made by the Modi government couple of days back on 8 June 2020 by proposing the decriminalization of certain offenses for improving business sentiment and unclogging court processes. The stakeholders have been invited to propose and submit their commens and suggestions within 15 days which is by 23 June 2020 regarding the decriminalization of a particular statute itself or any particular provision in a statute along with a set of rationale for the same. Let me give you an insight into the set proposal of the government of India on the other side of the clip. See you. According to the government of India decriminalizing of minor offenses is one of its focus areas. The risk of imprisonment for actions or omissions that are necessarily not fraudulent or outcome of malafide intent is a big barrier and impediment in attracting investment. The resultant ambiguity in legal processes and the time taken for resolution in the courts of disputes harms ease of doing business. Criminal penalty is including imprisonment for minor offenses, disincentivized business sentiment and obstructs investments both from domestic and foreign investors. This according to the government has become even more significant post-COVID-19 response strategy to help revive the economic growth and improving the justice delivery system. In view of the nature of pendency in all segments of the courts as well as the huge backlog delay in adjudication of legal cases, legislative measures are in the process of taking shape to help resolve trust in doing business as indicated by the government. Thus in this pursuit the government considers it important that a balance is found so that malafide intent is punished while other less serious offenses are compounded. Consequently, a framework is contemplated where a penalty is levied, levied by your pardon, which is sufficient to act as a deterrent. The government believes that action taken for the decriminalization of certain offenses can go a long way in improving ease of doing business and helping unclog the court system and even the prisons for that matter. The government has identified the following principles for reclassifying the criminal offenses. Two, compoundable offenses. First, decrease the burden on businesses and inspire confidence amongst investors. Two, focus on economic growth, public interest and national security, which should remain of paramount importance. Three, mensuria, which is malafide criminal intent, plays an important role in the imposition of criminal liability. Therefore, it is critical to evaluate the nature of non-compliance, that is fraud as compared to negligence or inadvertent omissions. And finally, the habitual nature of non-compliance. Non-compliance is undoubtedly as this exercises likely to have a large scale impact across society. The government of India is doing a stakeholder consultation exercise, which I mentioned in the beginning. Hence, to have overall consensus, the Department of Financial Services of the Ministry of Finance, which administers the acts and statutes as shown in the images in front of you. In whites, the comments of state government, youth, youth, administration, civil society, non-governmental organizations, academicians, public and private sector organizations, multilateral institutions and members of the public to submit their suggestions to the Department. The comments sent communication dated 8th June 2020, running into 18 pages, is publicly available on several websites. You may just google search and you will be able to lay hands on that communication. The set communication lists out relevant acts administered by the Department and their specific sections containing criminal provisions, with an adjacent column table to add your suggestions, comments and rationale. Overall, a great move by the Modi government and I request all the viewers to overwhelmingly send in your comments and suggestions in order to support this highly called for progressive measure. See you again next time with a new video.