Best Of 2016: Significant Legislations Of 2016

In 2016, eight new laws and over 40 amendments to existing laws, passed by the Parliament have been notified in the Gazette of India. These new laws, deals with Juvenile Justice, Commercial Courts, Disability Rights, Real Estate, waterways, hijacking, Afforestation fund and Aadhar. Amendments include amendment to Constitution to enable GST regime, amendment to Benami Transactions law and Taxations, etc. Following is the list of such Acts and important amendments, which came into force in 2016 [the date on which the notification was issued in the Gazette is given in the brackets, followed by its stated objective]

New Laws of 2016

1. Act No.2 of 2016 The Juvenile Justice (Care And Protection Of Children) Act, 2016 [1^st January, 2016] Objective: to consolidate and amend the law relating to children alleged and found to be in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection by catering to their basic needs through proper care, protection, development, treatment, social re-integration, by adopting a child-friendly approach in the adjudication and disposal of matters in the best interest of children and for their rehabilitation through processes provided, and institutions and bodies established, hereinunder and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Read the Act here. Read Live Law report here.


2. Act no. 4 of 2016 The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division And Commercial Appellate Division Of High Courts Act, 2015 [1^st January 2016] Objective: to provide for the constitution of Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division in the High Courts for adjudicating commercial disputes of specified value and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Read the Act here. Read Live Law report here.


3. Act No. 11 OF 2016: The Bureau Of Indian Standards Act, 2016 [12^th March, 2016] Objective: to provide for the establishment of a national standards body for the harmonious development of the activities of standardisation, conformity assessment and quality assurance of goods, articles, processes, systems and services and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Read the Act here.


4. Act no. 16 of 2016 The Real Estate (Regulation And Development) Act, 2016 [25th march, 2016.] Objective: To establish the Real Estate Regulatory Authority for regulation and promotion of the real estate sector and to ensure sale of plot, apartment or building, as the case may be, or sale of real estate project, in an efficient and transparent manner and to protect the interest of consumers in the real estate sector and to establish an adjudicating mechanism for speedy dispute redressal and also to establish the Appellate Tribunal to hear appeals from the decisions, directions or orders of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority and the adjudicating officer and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Read the Act here. Read Live Law report here.


5. Act No. 17 of 2016: The National Waterways Act, 2016 [25th March, 2016.] Objective : to make provisions for existing national waterways and to provide for the declaration of certain inland waterways to be national waterways and also to provide for the regulation and development of the said waterways for the purposes of shipping and navigation and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Read the Act here.


6. Act No. 18 of 2016: The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery Of Financial And Other Subsidies, Benefits And Services) Act, 2016 [25th March, 2016.] An Act to provide for, as a good governance, efficient, transparent, and targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits and services, the expenditure for which is incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India, to individuals residing in India through assigning of unique identity numbers to such individuals and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Read the Act here. Read Live Law report here.

7. Act no. 30 of 2016, The Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016 [13th May, 2016.] An Act to give effect to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft and for matters connected therewith. Read the Act here. Read Live Law report here.

1. Act no. 38 of 2016: The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016 [3rd August, 2016.] Objective: to provide for the establishment of funds under the public accounts of India and the public accounts of each State and crediting thereto the monies received from the user agencies towards compensatory afforestation, additional compensatory afforestation, penal compensatory afforestation, net present value and all other amounts recovered from such agencies under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; constitution of an authority at national level and at each of the State and Union territory Administration for administration of the funds and to utilise the monies so collected for undertaking artificial regeneration (plantations), assisted natural regeneration, protection of forests, forest related infrastructure development, Green India Programme, wildlife protection and other related activities and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Read the Act here.


2. Act no. 49 of 2016: The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016 [27th December, 2016] Objective: An Act to give effect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Read the Act here. Read Live Law report here.

Important Amendments to Existing Laws

1. Act No. 3 of 2016: The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 [1^st January, 2016.] This amendment to Arbitration and Conciliation Act additional grounds to set aside an award viz. those awards contravention with the fundamental policy of Indian Law or in conflict with the notions of morality or justice, in addition to the grounds already specified in the Act. The amendment also limits the jurisdiction of Courts for passing interim orders when it says “the Court must not accept such an application, unless it thinks that the arbitral tribunal will not be able to provide a similar remedy”. Read Live Law report here. Read the Act here.


2. Act no. 55 of 2016: The Constitution (One Hundred And First Amendment) Act, 2016 [8th September, 2016.] This amendment incorporated some provisions in the Constitution necessary for Goods and Services Tax regime in the Country. GST is a single tax on the supply of goods and services, right from the manufacturer to the consumer. Credits of input taxes paid at each stage will be available in the subsequent stage of value addition, which makes GST essentially a tax only on value addition at each stage. The final consumer will thus bear only the GST charged by the last dealer in the supply chain, with set-off benefits at all the previous stages. Read the Act here.


3. Act no. 43 of 2016 The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 [10th August, 2016.] Amendments to the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 2016 seeks to give more teeth to the authorities to curb benami transactions. The new law also provides for an appellate mechanism in the form of an adjudicating authority and appellate tribunal. Read Live Law report here. Read the Act here.


4. Act no. 48 of 2016: The Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Act, 2016 [15th December, 2016.] This amendment introduced the Taxation and Investment Regime for Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. Read Live Law report here. Read the Act here.


5. Act no. 1 of 2016, The Scheduled Castes And The Scheduled Tribes (Prevention Of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015 [1^st January, 2016.]: This amendment creates new offences and also envisages Establishment of Exclusive Special Courts and specification of Exclusive Special Public Prosecutors also, to exclusively try the offences under the PoA Act to enable speedy and expeditious disposal of cases. Read Live Law report here