Jan Vishwas Bill: Debating Compounding of Drug Offences
- August 5, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Jan Vishwas Bill: Debating Compounding of Drug Offences
Subject: Polity
Section: Legislation In news
Why in News?
Recently, the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023 was passed in both the house of parliament during the monsoon session and aims at giving a boost to Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business.
Central Idea
- The Jan Vishwas Bill, aimed at enhancing ease of doing business, has sparked a heated debate over certain amendments that modify the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
- While the bill intends to streamline regulatory provisions, critics argue that it may allow manufacturers of substandard medicines to evade imprisonment and instead pay fines for their offenses.
Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023:
- About:
- The Bill proposes to amend 183 provisions in 42 Central Acts administered by 19 Ministries/Departments, covering various domains such as environment, agriculture, media, industry, trade, information technology, copyright, motor vehicles, cinematography, food safety, etc.
- The main objective of the Bill is to decriminalize minor offences that do not involve any harm to the public interest or national security and replace them with civil penalties or administrative actions.
Amendments to Drugs and cosmetics act 1940:
- First Amendment :The first amendment under the Jan Vishwas Bill eliminates imprisonment for companies repeatedly using government analysis or test reports to promote their products. Instead, offenders will be subject to a fine not less than five lakh rupees, as opposed to the previous fine of not less than ten thousand rupees.
- Second Amendment :The second, more contentious amendment allows for the “compounding” of offenses under section 27 (d) of the existing Drugs and Cosmetics Act. Compounding enables companies to pay a fine as an alternative to undergoing criminal proceedings. However, section 27 (d) covers offenses related to drugs not of standard quality (NSQ) or colloquially termed substandard drugs.